Fool Me... Thrice?

It’d been a while since Alicia had got to know Isa Hjalmarsdottir and, since then, the two young women had spent time together both on campus and in the gym.

Alicia, at least, was starting to very much enjoy the blonde’s company. It was a nice change of pace.

Today though would be the first time that she’d invited Isa to visit her apartment and the redhead had something special in store for her fellow wrestler.

Tussling with Isa herself had certainly given Alicia an idea for what the blonde could do, but it was tricky to get a good read on someone’s skill when fighting them. At least it was for her; Alicia was usually too busy enjoying the fight. Besides that, she was also curious to see how the newcomer faired against someone who was a striker but not as proficient at it as she was.

It also needed to be someone who wouldn’t mind either Isa trying to dominate him (to be fair, that probably included half the guys in Tension) or Alicia coaching the blonde through things.

One name came immediately to mind and the redhead hadn’t wasted any time at all in putting her ideas into motion. Some texting, some checking of timetables and then the invitations were sent.

As for having it in her apartment, that was just easier and made for less nosy idiots watching.

A couple of days passed, then the doorbell was ringing to signal the arrival of her first guest. Hopefully, Isa – she’d deliberately staggered their arrivals so she’d have time to make sure the blonde was up for everything.

Brushing her hands on the cut-offs she wore, Alicia went to the door and opened it, grinning at the blonde on the other side.

”Hey, how are you?” She stepped aside, giving Isa plenty of room to step into her apartment, indicating that with a dramatic wave of her hand, ”C’mon in. Did you bring your workout gear?”

Sometimes coincidences seem to happen for a reason. And Isa's opinion was that it had been the case when the blonde had run into Alicia Wells.

OK, a sceptic could have claimed that their mutual involvements at both uni and AFW meant that their meeting was bound to happen sooner or later in any case. And the sceptic would have most probably been right. But still, Isa liked to take a more of a superstitious stand on this one.

While their personalities seemed to be quite different from each other, someone could even say exact opposites, Alicia had been kind enough to engage herself in training the blonde newcomer. And that was something Isa appreciated very much. Being all new to AFW, the blonde had found out that her skillset wouldn't be nearly enough for her to thrive in the AFW ring the way she had done back in Reykjavik. And having a tough fighter willing to show her the ropes in Japan was very valuable. Thus, meeting Alicia must have had a reason.

Plus, it was always fun to get a new friend, especially when being new in another country. And Alicia had turned out to have a brain as well, which was something Isa always appreciated.

This time though Alicia had invited her over to check out her apartment. With her work-out gear. That struck to Isa as a bit odd, but concluding she wasn't one to question her new trainer's instructions, the blonde had readily accepted her invitation. Maybe Alicia wanted to show her place before heading over to the gym for another training session.

Before finally finding her way to Alicia's, supposedly, door, Isa had to curse by herself for a while the confusion that was a Japanese apartment complex. But luckily the person opening the door was the one Isa had been expecting!

"Hey, I'm good!" Isa replied with a cute smile on her face. "Sure thing, just tell me when you want me to strip, heh!" she added, right before twisting the waist of her jeans just a bit over to reveal Alicia the top of her very short and tight blue gym shorts. Dressing up her work-out gear under her jeans and hoodie had sounded like the best choice for Isa today.

Stepping inside Alicia's apartment, Isa realised she was just slightly nervous. It was evidenced by the half-attempt at joking she had just let out, but the only reason that she could figure out for that was the difficulty in finding her way over to Alicia's. Surely there wasn't anything to be nervous about, even though it was her first time in the redhead's apartment?

Turning back around to face Alicia, Isa then queried looking at her cut-offs "To me, it looks like you're the one who needs to do some changing!"

Entering Alicia’s apartment, Isa would find herself in a living area, small and plain, with a couple of chairs, a sofa and a table – the latter littered with books (to match the ones in the small bookcases) and a laptop. As far as decorations went, there were the usual pictures – Alicia at the beach, at the gym, at her graduation – plus her trophies from kickboxing and MMA competitions.

Cosy, at least Alicia thought so. Home away from home.

It suited her and that was all she cared about.

She nodded in reply as the blonde said she was good, casting an eye over Isa in time to spot the way the other curvy wrestler tugged her waistband down a bit to reveal the shorts underneath.

That’d work nicely. And, well, part of Alicia certainly wouldn’t object to getting a look at Isa in her workout gear. Not, it had to be said that the blonde looked bad in jeans and a hoodie.

To be fair, the big Brit wasn’t dressed for sparring, what with her tank-top and cut-offs, but she didn’t need to be either – as Isa would be finding out.

”Don’t worry,” Alicia said to her pupil and friend, grinning like the cat that’d got the canary, ”I’ve got something different in mind today.”

Her grin widened to show some teeth.

”It’s going to be fun. Want a drink or something before we get started? We’ve got a few minutes to kill.”

To make sure everything went to plan, the redhead had told her other guest to turn up a little later. She waved at the closed door that led to the room she used to workout and for her sparring sessions.

”You can change in there, if you want. I’ve got mats set up ready.”

Even if Isa was slightly nervous, she was still curious. And Alicia's friendly greetings soon made the latter one better applicable. Isa was always curious to see other people's apartments. It was very interesting for her to see how other people lived, and what could it tell about their personalities.

Well, Alicia's apartment didn't seem to be too revaling. There were a lot of books though, only emphasizing the fact that the redhead really wasn't the dumbest fighter alive. And yes, those trophies told Isa the Brit really was a fighter. Even the pictures told a story of a more athletic than bookworm girl.

Probably pretty accurate for Alicia's true personality.

But the redhead's next words made Isa confused again. Something different? Well, being at her apartment was something different by itself, but what could it be if Alicia didn't feel the need to get dressed for a workout herself?

Alicia's grin didn't help at all.

Suddenly Isa had no idea what was going to happen, and what was she in there for?

"Eh, oh-ok, sure!" the blonde managed to reply Alicia. While she wasn't really expecting to drink, the surprising turn of events had managed to freeze the Angel of Ice for a moment. And besides, it wasn't in her nature to turn down kind offers.

Isa didn't have to stay there frozen for long though, as the redhead pointed her towards the closed door. Mats set up? Well that sounded like maybe they were indeed going to have some kind of training. Best bet was to obey Alicia's suggestions.

"Oh, ok, thanks!" was the best answer the confused blonde managed to give.

Opening the door, Isa gasped in surprise. Alicia actually had a proper place to train in her apartment! Leaving the door open, Isa briefly inspected the room. The blonde was impressed by the level of that dedication. The room that the redhead had there was definitely something that many others would envy.

Taking a moment to herself, Isa then slowly got rid of her hoodie and jeans. Left with her short and tight blue gym shorts and sports bra, the blonde was becoming increasingly eager to find out what her trainer had in mind. Confusion was being replaced by curiosity.

Returning back to the doorway, Isa leaned to the doorframe. "Wow, I must say I didn't expect you to have such a good place for sparring in here... So, you're not gonna let me make you sweat today?"

Needless to say, Alicia’s grin only widened yet further at Isa’s brief but incredibly visible confusion.

It was adorable, and maybe she was enjoying this just a tiny bit more than she ought to. But it was still fun.

”Tea?”

She offered, heading towards her kitchenette as Isa headed to change. Setting the kettle boiling, the British woman came back out into the main room just in time to see the Icelandic fighter emerge in some very flattering and brief gear.

Nice. Very nice.

Sometimes, the redhead was convinced the blonde wasn’t flirting and that she was reading way too much into Isa’s actions and comments.

Other times, she was pretty damn sure she wasn’t.

Being asked if she was going to let Isa make her sweat?

Well, that was a definite case of the latter. Resisting the urge to flirt right back, Alicia did pause for a moment to appreciate the view – Isa filled out her gear nicely at the best of times and the way she was leaning against the frame was popping her curves big time.

Screw ‘not flirting’.

The redhead straightened up, cocking her own hip slightly to emphasise its bold curvature and to rest a hand on it.

”Tempting,” Idly, she wondered if Dmitri would mind, before shaking that idea out of her head, ”I guess we’ll see. Though someone’ll definitely be sweating.”

Alicia deliberately and pointedly let her eyes trail down to Isa’s thighs, verging on the same scale as her own.

”Let’s just say I want to see what you’ve really got. So I’ve got you a squeeze dummy.”

She grinned.

”Thought you’d like to keep your good girl rep, do it behind closed doors.”

Tea? Sure. That wasn't really exactly what would come to Isa's mind from "a drink", but she had to remember that Alicia was from Britain anyway. Naturally it was going to be tea.

But that was a trivial detail right now. More important question was, what was Isa there for? If Alicia didn't feel the need to change her clothes, naturally she wasn't expecting to be sweating then?

As a kind person, Isa usually wanted to appear friendly to other people. And sometimed that would lead to her being a little over-friendly. She wasn't one to really flirt on purpose, but this definitely wasn't the first time she had accidentally managed to do so.

How Alicia was replying to her made the blonde realise not only that she had somehow managed to accidentally be flirty, but also that the redhead was responding to that. The way how Alicia was saying her words was making the blonde blush a bit again, and getting her slightly confused...

But what Alicia was saying was actually getting more attention. A squeeze dummy? So Alicia was just going to watch her scissor someone? And the blonde had thought, that those kind of matches were boring for the Brit to watch?

"O-oh? Really? A squeeze dummy? Wh-who's gonna want to do that?" Isa muttered out all blushed and confused now. That was something she hadn't really expected. And the fact that Alicia was talking about closed doors made it all very confusing...

Sure, she remembered all her bed wrestling matches with Julie back in Reykjavik. Sometimes it had felt like Julie had just wanted to be kind of a "squeeze dummy". But they had been close friends... Now she was supposed to do that with a complete stranger?

Then again, Alicia was her trainer of sorts, and it was probably the best choice to follow her instructions.

Alicia wasn’t quite sure how to take Isa’s response, if she was honest. The blush didn’t help, nor did the stammering, but really it was… Well, it wasn’t enthusiastic but it was more…

Was she dreaming in seeing a bit of guilty embarrassment there? Maybe she was reading into things, given she’d watched the match with Komatsuzaki and how that one had ended. It certainly wasn’t a reaction against what she’d suggested, even if she hadn’t done the best job of explaining what would actually be happening.

As for her friend’s question… Well…

Who’d want to do that indeed.

”Around this place? You’d be surprised,” Alicia punctuated her comment with a slight roll of her eyes; there were plenty of masochists in Tension and Friction alike, people who’d line up to let female wrestlers have their way with them.

”Ok, let’s start over. I’ve got you a Tension guy to spar with. He’s a striker, same height as you, and I want to see how you handle him. Think of it like a test – he’ll definitely be fighting back but I think you can take him.”

The redhead patted the blonde on the shoulder in a friendly fashion. While she did intend this to be fun to watch, she did also have some serious intentions regarding seeing what Isa’s stamina, fighting ability and such were like. What moves she used, other than the obvious.

”I’ll coach you a bit, but to pass you need to get this guy on the mat and work him over until he can’t keep fighting. We’ll reset every time you make him tap but I want you to wring him dry. Exhaust him. Make him into your squeeze dummy. You ok with that?”

Not her usual idea of fun, admittedly, but she found she enjoyed seeing Isa in action. On top of that, ‘putting on a clinic’ was good training – this was a controlled environment, there was no audience, Isa could feel free to let her hair down, there wasn’t any pressure – except the obvious.

The Brit raised her eyebrows at Isa, inviting any questions.

Granted, the squeeze dummy idea didn't sound too bad for Isa. Sure, she loved her scissors and training them even further would be both fun and beneficial. And the blonde had indeed, half-inadvertently, managed to give clues to her fondness of the move before. What she had admitted Alicia already before about the fact, and the way she had insisted on using her scissors on miss Komatsuzaki to finish their match made it probably very easy for Alicia to guess that.

But having some complete stranger set up for her as her squeeze dummy? That didn't sound too nice.

But based on Alicia's comment, maybe Isa was dead wrong on that. And frankly, the words the Brit had used brought up Julie in her mind again for some reason... Her Irish friend really didn't seem to be the type minding too much about getting caught in such a situation.

But what? A Tension guy? That was unexpected. And suddenly it made Isa much more hesitant about her chances to succeed. The blonde was quite frozen with her mouth open from surprise as Alicia was patting her shoulder.

Her trainer's tests didn't sound like easy ones to pass.

"Uh, well, sure, I can try!" Isa finally managed let out. "It's just that... I haven't really wrestled against guys before!"

Sure, there had been one guy in their uni league back in Iceland, but he had been smaller than an average guy. Here in AFW they wouldn't probably be as easy to make squeeze dummies.

"But I guess I just have to trust on your judgement on this one... If you really promise to coach me then?" she added with the look of a puppy begging for something.

And yes, Isa was extremely glad Alicia had decided to do this behind closed doors.

Judging by Isa’s reaction, no, the blonde wasn’t ok with that. At the least, it didn’t seem that she had any particular issues with the idea – it was her ability to execute what Alicia was asking of her that she was doubting.

The redhead could have sworn… Huh, no. Isa hadn’t said anything of the sort, had she? Alicia had just assumed the other woman had wrestled guys before; guess she was letting her own experiences colour her opinions.

Still, she honestly didn’t think the blonde would have that many problems. Dmitri lacked any form of killer instinct and was pretty much as good on the mat as the bulk of the kawaii division. It’d be potentially tricky to get him down but, once the blonde had him down, Alicia was confident Isa could do what she’d asked.

Plus, from the looks of it, it’d be a great confidence builder. Once she’d got Dmitri wheezing like a bellows, Isa would realise that turning guys into squeeze toys was just as easy as girls – at least, not when you had thighs like they did.

”Trust me,” She said with absolute confidence, ”You’ll love it. It’s no different from fighting another girl. Just wrap him up and squeeze him out. In fact, it’s more fun because guys tend to take a bit more pressure than a girl the same size. You can cut loose a bit more.”

Turning violet eyes on Isa’s puupy-dog expression, Alicia laughed and nodded.

”And I promise.”

At that moment, the two were interrupted by a knock on Alicia’s door – a knock that Alicia at least knew well. Her grin widened.

”Go warm up and I’ll bring him in.”

Pausing only to shoo Isa back into the training room and pull the door over (though not completely close it), the curvy redhead strode over to her apartment’s front door.

Opening it, she waited just long enough to check it was indeed Dmitri on the other side before she yanked him forward into a hungry, greedy kiss by way of greeting, pressing her body up against his hard and tight.

”Hey,” she offered when she finally pulled back.

Some people got nice little texts from their significant others on their anniversary. Pictures. Smiley faces. Virtual hugs.

Dmitri?

Sparring time.

Those words, along with a time to meet Alicia. How romantic.

Well, to be honest, he was still having a hard time putting an exact label on what the two of them were. Boyfriend and girlfriend didn't seem to really apply, but it was the closest thing he could think of to it. She could be surly at times, true, but if she absolutely loathed him she could've found someone else to squeeze. She went along with him to things, and it wasn't like he would ever force her to do anything she didn't want to do. Or could, for that matter.

She liked to hurt him. He liked to be hurt, in a weird way. It was a strange relationship, but he'd heard of stranger. Especially in this city. In a weird way, he was fortunate - Alicia took care never to do anything that would put him in the hospital, and there were plenty of guys who would’ve paid to be in his position.

Then again, perhaps ‘plenty’ was an exaggeration. A small, masochistic handful, perhaps.

Regardless, he was in that percentage now, as strange as it was. So, sure enough, he was there on time, in his blue track pants and white tanktop, giving her doorbell a good ringing. As always, he didn’t have to wait long for her to answer.

”Hey, I’m-”

Whatever standard greeting Dmitri had been going for was lost down Alicia’s throat, as she pulled him in for a wild, reckless kiss. The sheer shock of it took him by surprise, but he caught on quick enough and reciprocated, keeping up with her hungry lips as best he could. He pushed forward, just enough to kick the door closed behind him, right before they peeled away from each other.

”Whoo.” Dmitri blinked and had a quick chuckle in between heavy breaths. ”Hey yourself.”