Happy Endings Aren't For Everyone

Slowly but surely, Diana Accera made her way up the entrance ramp, one hand to her already swelling cheek, one to her back as the Italian struggled to build up any speed at all now that the adrenaline had faded from her intense match with man-mountain Armando Rodriguez. She didn't bother turning her head to ensure Army himself was fine; if anything considering it to be an insult if a less established wrestler like herself was tending to an AFW veteran after a match that could of at the drop of a hat, turned in Army's favour. Hell, she sure wouldn't of appreciated been tended to had roles been reversed. And whats-more, she had to turn her attention to another Rodriguez in the back..

Struggling through the entrance curtains, an ice pack offered to the Italian was quickly accepted with a small gratuitous nod, before said pack was applied straight to the half of the Italian's face that had the joy of enduring a ground and pound from a man who could of likely caved in her skull had another hit landed. Still on uneasy feet, she'd tilt her head back and forth through both sides of the hallway, trying to find the woman who had suggested celebratory drinks after the match. Diana surely wasn't in the mood for drinks after her early match mind-fuck caused by her feelings for said woman, but she was most certainly interested in finding Carmen still, to most likely 'clear the air' on said feelings.

Struggling down the hallway in the direction of her dressing room, she'd turn the first corner to find the woman she was hunting for, making her way towards her slowly still, for words that would unlikely be pleasant...

As Carmen made her way through the  backstage area, she actually had to stop for a moment. It was a brief pause, the smallest of moments, but it was a full stop. She just had to take a second, pause, and think about the fact that she was about to congratulate the woman who’d just beaten up her brother.

It was weird, because she’d spent a good bit of her life doing just the opposite. It wasn’t the first time he’d lost a fight, it wouldn’t be the last, and she’d tried to support him...when it wasn’t his own damn fault that got him into the mess in the first place. This was different. This was his own doing, and hopefully a reminder for him to stay out of her personal life from this point on. Time would tell.

They would likely have a nice, long discussion about this over dinner. For now, her main thought was seeing to Diana, and giving her lover the congratulations she was do. She would be aching and sweaty and hurting, but that might actually make the experience more fulfilling for the both of them. Heck, they were most of those things during lovemaking. Nothing new. They were an odd pair, she couldn’t deny it.

She didn’t have to look far - in fact, she didn’t have to look at all. Diana found her, walking down the hallway, looking like she’d just got hit by a train named Armando Rodriguez.

”Hey, there.” Carmen came her way, dipping down to get a better at her face. ”Great fight out there, like usual. Mind if I see the damage?”

When a wrestler, or even fighter in general had something of a mountain to climb, they would often hype themselves up beyond all comprehension in a bid to scale said mountain easily. Only, nine times out of ten, upon seeing their mountainous foe in the ring before them, all the previous hype would fade away as their bodies would somewhat literally shiver it out.

Weirdly enough, Diana didn't experience such moments when preparing to scuffle with Army, despite the man sharing similarities with a wild grizzly bear.

But the simple task of expressing what was on her mind to Carmen? You can imagine the Italian was somewhat lost for words, given she never imagined herself in said predicament. Hell, ironically Diana would of slightly preferred the company of the male Rodriguez she had now something of a quiet respect for, over a woman she alone found herself awkward in the presence of.

Rather than speak, she'd just step up to Carmen as her Puerto Rican lover's hand came to her face to assess the already serious swelling on the side that Army beat like a drum. Diana herself was now somewhat akin to the Batman villain Two-Face, given that one side of her face was somewhat pristine if extremely red, the other swollen up immensely. Rather than speak, she'd simply scowl at the floor, before her eyes softened as they rolled up slowly to Carmen's. She wasn't exactly shooting daggers into Carmen's gaze, but she wasn't exactly looking friendly either.

Something was wrong.

Diana wasn’t exactly chatty during the best of times. Even in the bed, most of their pillow talk consisted of grunts, growls, and sexually-laden innuendos disguised as threats. Carmen didn’t mind, honestly. The woman wasn’t a conversationalist. She tended to speak with her body. Made particularly easy by the way it was constantly on display.

She’d gotten used to reading Diana’s expressions, and these ones were clearly telling her that there was a chill between them, a sliver of cold in their usual hotness.

Carmen stepped back and folded her arms, her brows furrowing while she looked her lover over. ”Hey,” She tilted her head to the side. ”What’s wrong?”

Diana's gaze into Carmen's own pair was only broken by a short squint as Diana's body tilted slightly; a mild headache beginning to find it's home in the Italian's skull thanks to the match with Armando. Adjusting herself accordingly, the glare soon returned, albeit now partially covered given Diana's hand was now to her head as if to carry the headache itself.

Struggling surprisingly immensely to form the words in her mouth to state her problem directly to her lover, Diana simply coughed out a short, yet accurate statement explaining her issue at hand.

"You distracted me..."

Spoke with a surprisingly aggressive tone, Diana somewhat hated herself for coming out with a purely hostile statement, rather than explain what was actually the issue she was having.

To say Carmen was confused would be an understatement.

Her memory wasn’t the greatest, but she and Diana seemed to be on the same page just a few minutes ago, when they were groping and kissing and about five seconds away from going at it in the nearest available private area.

It was almost as if a completely different woman had walked out of that ring, and she wasn’t entirely sure she liked the logic of this one.

Carmen titled her head from side to the other, then folded her arms and stared hard, trying to see if she could get some read on her. Diana wasn’t exactly known for her subtlety, but…

”I distracted you?” She repeated, as if just to make sure she heard correctly. ”I wasn’t anywhere near the ring, that doesn’t make any sense.”

A small part of Diana was trying to force itself through, to force the Italian to speak her words honestly to Carmen. All she had to do was explain her situation, in even but a few words, to tell her lover that she was falling for her; that Carmen had managed to 'distract' the Italian per say with merely the offer of spending time after the match with her. Instead, such a small part quiet in the backs of Diana's mind, forever cursed to leave the Italian as a woman too afraid or nervous to speak her true meaning.

"Don't act dumb, Carmen..." She muttered, somewhat unsure of herself as she simply couldn't believe she was about to choose outright unneeded hostility over speaking the truth.

Well, she'd started, so she'd finish.

"You don't see me popping up right before you go out to beat the shit out whoever or whatever. I don't try to put you off your game. What, you trying to put me down as a notch on your brothers win record??"

Carmen spoke three languages - Spanish, English, and Japanese, in that order of understanding. She’d picked up English quick enough when she joined the Olympic team, and she thought she’d gotten it down fairly well.

Apparently not. Diana’s words were making absolutely no sense.

Carmen stepped back and stared at her for a moment, as if she’d said the weirdest thing in the world. She hadn’t, but it certainly came closer than any sane person would dare. ”What?” Carmen placed a hand on her hip and cocked it to the side. ”What are you talking about, that doesn’t make any sense. You think I make a habit of making out with the women my brother fights before a match? Really”

Carmen was starting to hype up, but she held out her hands, took a deep breath, and the cooling down began. ”Where is this coming from? Seriously? Because you didn’t seem to have a problem with it when we were all over each other before the match. That would’ve been the time to complain.”

Stop talking shit Diana, even you know your not making sense...

Small whispers again made their way around the Italian's head, as she forced her eyes to turn as serious as she could do try and add meaning to her words. Yet again, they would not become the dominant actions of the Italian, who at this point resigned herself to being in too deep to stop now.

"You know exactly what I mean. Where the fuck have you been every other match I've had? Or even after?"

Stop yourself whilst your ahead Accera, there's still time to fix it...

"I didn't see you waiting with a band aid after Tomko was done running over me like a freight train. Or Josey was finished with me for that matter"

Cool it Diana, you can still salvage this, she'd understand...

Again, the wise part of Diana would remain silent, as she now brought up a finger to point it towards Carmen as if it were a weapon itself. She'd make a small break from her tirade to catch her voice, a first for the Italian, almost understandable given her eyes were ever so slightly beginning to water- a fact kept hidden by the Italian's scowl and clenching of eyes. Catching herself, she'd prepare her voice to echo words describable as a 'finishing blow,' one that was the very definition of undeserved on Carmen's part, delivered by a scared woman now rendered a child by the very thought of falling for someone.

"Hell, the only ever time you've ever purposefully sought me out..."

Don't say it. Don't you fucking say it...

"...Was after you got fucking dumped..."

Carmen stood there, mouth agape and aghast, staring at Diana when those last few words came out of her mouth. She wasn’t quite sure how to take it, really. Wasn’t sure how to process the words that were coming out of those lips, those same lips that she’d been kissing less than thirty minutes ago. It was like some kind of weird joke - Carmen half-expected a television crew to pop out of nowhere at any moment, or for this to somehow be April Fool’s Day.

But no. It was real. Too real.

She balled her fist tight and opened her mouth to speak, when one of the stagehands happened to walk by and get within listening distance. She slowed down, looking between the two of them, before a glare from Carmen sent her off with hurried steps.

”Look,” Carmen spoke, her words dripping with venom. ”I don’t know what’s wrong with you, or where this is coming from, but I’m not going to stand here while you throw ridiculous conspiracy theories at me. You want to end this? You want me to go?” Carmen pointed to the door behind her. ”I’ll go and I’ll leave you just as alone as you were before I met you. But say that’s what you want. Stop trying to scare me off like some dumb puppy that followed you home.”

Without even realizing it, Carmen had gotten in Diana’s face. Close. Too close. The sort of position they hadn’t been in together in a good while, before their interactions moved out of the ring and into the bedroom.