Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper

Haley had been about to roll her eyes as her newfound...friend? launched into another ramble, involving her own skill and beauty and blah blah...but then she brought up something very interesting.

"W-wait...you...YOU, design my...wrestling gear..."

Haley blinked rapidly, various thoughts buzzing through her brain as she sat forward, eyes wide. "That's...oh my god, that's...that's BRILLIANT! Yes! Yes please! I'd love for you to design a new outfit for me! That would be incredible! You're sense of style and fashion expertise would be perfect for that! I've been needing something new, and you've got one of the best and hottest outfits in the league!"

Haley excitedly ranted, sitting up and taking the bikini clad Gwens hand in her own, gazing into her eyes with puppy dog eyes of her own.

"W-would you? I can pay you!"

Basking in Ace's fawning adoration as if the heiress a resplendent beacon of shimmering beauty, Gwendolyn took in every flattering compliment from her humble acolyte as if it was the gospel truth...which it most assuredly was. The ease with which Gwendolyn's mountainous ego was satiated only emboldened her moreso and made her fantasize about how exceedingly generous she was to bestow her blessings upon the downtrodden Haley.

"Ah, think nothing of it, Madam Haley. For what am I but a virtuoso artiste merely searching for a blank canvas whereupon I will create my next acclaimed masterpiece~..." Gwen imparted with her eyes closed and head tilted upward before looking back down at the flattering Haley.

"It may take no small amount of effort to cleanse yourself of all the grit, grime and black-eyes that come with associating yourself with the uncouth reprobates within the Hardcore division, but in time, you will have a sparkling radiance all your own~...perhaps with your own set of majestic silver-haired curls as well~..." Gwen stated with glimmering stars in her own eyes while imagining a haughty Ace with bobbing drills and ojou laugh.

"And never you mind paying me. What are friends for?...I...I actually am inquiring about this. This is what friends do for each-other, correct?" Gwen asked with complete sincerity in her honest, innocent eyes while still hand in hand with Ace. All of this clearly being uncharted territory for her…

It was Haley's turn to laugh now. It was such an innocent question, coming after such bravado, that it was simply...adorable. Though a bit troubling as well...did...did Gwen not actually have other friends? Surely she must...but that look in her eyes...

Patting Gwens hand in a comforting gesture, Haley nodded. "Yep! This is exactly what friends do for each other. Believe me, I really, really appreciate it. I've no doubt that you're gonna create something really awe inspiring!"

She said, wanting to assure Gwen that she wasn't wrong in her thinking. As for herself, she had to admit, she was seeing a different side to Gwen, one she had never actually thought she'd ever see, and she didn't mean the bikini. The way things were going, she was starting to wonder if maybe she had been too quick to judge the heiress before.

"So, I've asked you a couple questions...got any for me?"

Gwendolyn's expansive knowledge about all matters pertaining to the business world and daily experience managing a boardroom of cutthroat executives as the C.O.O. of her company...regrettably did little to familiarize herself with this wholly foreign situation of...well, just having a friend you do favors for. The doe-eyed innocence in her eyes giving way to a cheeky, blushed pout when her honest question was met with laughter and merriment.

But Gwen's lightened up after Ace's reassurance. Though she only just than realized she was doing a remarkably large number of favors for Haley...even if it was meant to reward Haley for her earlier fawning compliments. Upon seeing Ace's smile, Gwen just then felt a warm, comforting, and rather wholesome feeling her chest...which she promptly tried to ignore with a shake of her head, and instead promptly focused on Ace's question.

"HoHo~...your turn to be grilled in the proverbial hot seat, hmm? Let us see~..." Gwen pursed her lips to the side of her mouth while tapping her chin, looking off to the sides while in brief contemplation before getting her eureka moment with a perked up smile. "Ah, I know. Earlier, you offered to pay me for my services in regards to me designing your new outfit. While I indeed adamantly refused, I have little doubt that you actually do possess the capital to procure my services. Not that one would notice from first impressions, but you, Haley Cote, are substantially well off and are fiscally worth a great deal of money. Therefore, my question is..." Gwen raised her hand to brush some of the silver strands out of Haleys eyes so Gwen could better examine the cuts and bruises on her face.

"...why, in heaven's name, do you try so feverishly to hide the fact that you come from money? Your globe-trotting early wrestling years...your immersion into the distasteful barbarity of the Hardcore division...why, it's almost as if you actively seek to run away from your affluence and family lineage..."

That...was a very good question. Damn if Gwen wasn't perceptive. Then again, the woman did run a business as well as wrestle, no way could she do that without being extremely cunning, intelligent, and perceptive.

Haley stayed quiet for a short while, looking into Gwens quizzical eyes as the woman checked out the bruises and cuts on her face, before looking down, taking a breath and feeling some of the steam wash over them, sweat dripping down her bikini-clad body before she answered.

"I guess...I mean...I don't know how to put it...I guess, if I had to boil it down to the simplest and easiest answer is that...I'm..."

She took a deep breath, letting it out as a slow sigh before continuing.

"I've always been scared of like...how to put it...I mean, part of it is kind of some leftover parental issues, like they weren't around, so I don't want to be affiliated with them very much, though I still used the money from them to pay for that training, because I had to, but like...I guess its a..."legacy" thing, for lack of a better term. I mean, I'm just...its not that I don't like having money or the life it can afford me...I just...I didn't, and still don't, want to be known as just like "the rich girl" you know? I mean, yeah, the money helped me get started years sooner than I otherwise could of...but like...its just...ughhh..."

She rambled, not sure how to answer the question, or if she even wanted to answer Gwens question, or what was the answer, and why was it so hot in this steam room?

Blushing, she calmed herself, and spoke again.

"I just...I gave up a lot to do this. I dropped out of high school, I all but abandoned my friends, and my family, who I rarely speak too, I threw myself matches and bad situations...let's just say there's more than a few people on the indy scene who don't mind beating the crap out of a 15 year old trainee in the ring...then I finally got here, I threw myself against veterans and crazy women and...ladders...not too mention cages and scaffolds.

I've been injured and beat up and left broken and bleeding to do this...and the idea that, years from now, when I'm retired, people are looking back on my career...the thought that all of that could be discarded, that I could be disregarded as "just some rich girl who used her money to get to where she was"....the thought of that is just devastating."

She looked up at Gwen again, wondering if the also wealthy heiress could fully understand her point of view.

"I want people, years from now, to say that Silver Ace was one of the best wrestlers they'd ever seen, not that Silver Ace was just some rich spoiled bitch who threw money around to get to the top."

One doesn't maintain leadership of a multinational conglomerate in her early twenties by not sharpening her mind to a serrated edge. Snuffing out ideas of corporate takeover's and eliminating dissenters in her company meany being able to pick up on the subtlest of social cues in someone's personality. And Haley was nothing if not methodical when it came to obfuscating her regal upbringing and the substantial wealth behind it. But Gwen had suspicions about Haley's posh background early on when they first tussled in their momentous Avalanche match. There was a certain elegance to Ace's gait that only comes with having a childhood surrounded by well-mannered etiquette coaches constantly correcting your posture as a lady. An in-depth background search by one of her butlers than confirming Gwen's suspicions.

Gwen propped her chin on her hand with a furrowed brow as she leaned forward while attempting to follow along with the winding words and twisting pathways of Ace's response. She briefly wondered if she should have taken offense to that last bit about not wanting to be seen as a rich spoiled b-...you know the rest. Gwen took a moment to mull over what Ace had said while leaning back and extending her legs now crossed over each-other. She tapped her fingers on the wooden beck to her sides for a few seconds before turning her head back to Ace.

"...that...is an egregious folly, I'm afraid. One cannot escape the circumstances of their birth no matter how hard they try. You were gifted a noble upbringing with a sterling silver spoon wedged comfortably into your mouth. And all of those cuts, bruises, and broken appendages aren't going to stop people from judging you for what you were born into, and how you had inherit advantages others would only dream of. Tis a brand burned into your skin that you will be judged with along with all of your accomplishments for the rest of your days I'm afraid, and I suggest you accept that fact post haste. Lest you enjoy endless trips to the hospital in your feverish attempt to run away and deny your past...or not. It's just a suggestion~..." Gwen concluded her insightful advice with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders and smirk from the side of her mouth. This clearly being a topic she considered herself an expert at. "...and I'm going to assume that present company was excluded in regards to that "rich, spoiled" part. T'would be quite the shame if we ended this encounter on the same terms as we started it." Gwen added before something just than came to her mind, an sly smirk on her face with her gaze than being directed downward towards her feet.

"...*giggle*...a curious thought just occurred to me. Both of us were born into high class society and surrounded by unending opulence from an early age. But whereas you opted to forsake your aristocratic heritage...I embraced it wholeheartedly. It appears you and I are practically two sides of the same coin. It 's most interesting to see how my life may have turned out had I treaded down the other path~..."

Haley had sat up straighter as Gwen talked, listening intently, looking deep in thought as the heiress explained why she felt her fellow heiress was wrong.

"...You know...I never really looked at it like that before. Ever since I got here, and even before that, I was fighting way harder than a lot of other people. I challenged world champs as soon as I debuted, I've always tried to punch above my weight class, so to speak...and I've paid for it. Every year it seems I end up getting injured in some way, especially lately with all this shit with River Styx...and if I'm just going to be judged for it anyway, maybe I should just put accept it already..."

She stretched her arms, before offering Gwen a smile. "You know Gwen, you have a good point. You've given me a lot to think about. Thank you for that."

Honest advice from Gwen of all people...today really was just a strange day.

She giggled, patting the heiress's thigh. "Gwen, I can honestly say, as interesting as that would be if you went my path, If you were any other way, you wouldn't be you. I mean that as a compliment. ...Geez, I feel like an idiot. I mean, look at me, I'm limping around, I've spent half the year on the shelf, all to try and prove that I'm "Hardcore"...I must be Spider-Man, because I need a reboot..."

There were undoubtedly fewer people more qualified than Gwendolyn to properly offer tutelage on this particular subject matter, that being the permanent branding that comes with being born into money and having opulent riches at your disposal for a lifetime. Gwendolyn did find it quite serendipitous that by conversing with Haley today by mere happenstance that she was able to catch a glimpse of how her life may have turned out had she opted to forgo her aristocratic lineage. It was a passing curiosity that had always nagged her in the more mundane, and trivial moments of her life...a fleeting query that she now had some semblance of an answer for now.

"Oh, don't misjudge. I hold no regrets in regards of the life decisions I've made to this very day. For you see~..." Gwendolyn interrupted herself by standing up from her bench to take a few steps forward, the haughty noblewoman than spinning in place before striking a theatrical pose with her snooty head tilted up and eyes closed as if she were preaching to the heavens. "...Where would the world be without my shining light to guide those low born commoners into aspiring above their innate and mundane mediocrity~...Such a task is only befitting of someone of such a noble and prestigious pedigree~..." Gwen concluding her pompous preening by than turning to face Haley with a hand on her curvy hip and her naturally curly hair having straightened out due to the humidity in the air.

"And you can consider today's bit of sagely wisdom, as well as your new outfit, on the house. Consider it a gift for providing me with such stimulating repartee this afternoon, but don't think I'll be so forthcoming when next we meet...now, what say we conclude today's spa session on that note. I DO have other matters to attend to this day..."

Geez. Heartfelt advice AND free clothing, AND free spa day? Being friendly towards Gwen was proving to be the best decision she had made all year so far.

With the spa session having apparently come to a close, Haley stood up, stretching her bikini clad body with a groan of pleasure. "You know, I have to admit, this really helped me feel better, in more than one way. Thanks a lot Gwen, I really appreciate it...but you're right. Probably time to go. I need to meet up with Valley anyway, congratulate her on her title win."

She smiled at the thought of her lovers title victory that night, before looking over at Gwen. "How about you? Any plans with Nikolette?"

Gwendolyn spoke no falsehoods when she mentioned needing to conclude their quaint rendezvous so she could return adhering to the list of appointments on her stringent itinerary. She was pleased to have accomplished her yearly act of generosity, and converting a former foe into an ardent, humble disciple was most definitely an exemplary bonus to today's excursion. But now she was most definitely ready to resume her high-class lifestyle without anymore interrup-

"..."

Gwendolyn balked whilst stretching out her own spine, her arms which were raised to the ceiling than gradually coming down to her sides. She turned her head towards Haley with a stone cold glower that had no semblance of any lingering empathy, as if all of Ace's well-earned good will had vanished. A look of snooty irritation on Gwen's face as she stormed off in a huff towards the exit without another word being said...