"Random" Encounters

Alexa lit up, likely just as happy the gift was received so well as she would have been if she had been on the other end of things. Gift giving, helping people out in general, were things she loved to do. The former was rare only because she rarely had the means to do so. The latter these days only because it seems she had been causing more problems in Japan than she had been able to fix. Still, it was a simple joy, one that she embraced when given the chance

She arched a brow as she slipped from her gracious gift giving stance to eye the raised fist of Ryoko questioning until it was explained. Alexa nearly jumped at the idea of having a secret handshake. As a child, her and another two friends had tried that as well as their own little langauge to talk to each other in code.

Both failed gloriously, though the secret handshake flop had become a running joke with the trio all the way up through high school where they purposely did it different and horribly each time. It wasn't until the trio became a duo that they had let it finally die, in remembrance of their friend that got too popular for them anymore.

This was in Alexa's wheelhouse. A chance to drop a knowledge bomb on Ryoko of her mastery of the fist bump. It was as if fate woke up this morning and pulled Alexa's name from their hat to find a use for something she had thought far to much on, but never had an outlet to share.

"Fist bumping is an art form. First you have to decide on the starting position of the fist, you got the vertical..." She held her fist upright, if if gripping vertically. "This is the dad position. People who don't know what they are doing tend to fist bump like this. It's a trap, don't ever fall for it."

She dipped her fist horizontal. "This is the gangsta position, the only real answer if you are looking for a good bump. Next up comes the distance. It's all about what you want as the lead up or end flourish. I think, for first time bump mates, we need to go about..."

She gauged their distance between one another, shifting a bit. She held out her arm, motioning for Ryoko to do the same so she could get a good idea of how to engineer this... she was getting way more involved with this than Ryoko likely ever could have expected. "Okay, this is good. Can start with a crooked elbow, extend out so it's just shy of arm's length. This is so we can gave a good flourish to end on. We can go with the classic, for time's sake. The boom, pop, sizzle. So, like this." She held her fist out at her side, extending it out in slow motion for Ryoko to follow another. She would raise their fists to touch. "Boom." She slowly withdrew her fist, opening her hand up, fingers wide before freeze framing herself. "Pop." She drew her hand back further, wagging at the wrist as she did some jazz hand motions as it faded away. "Sizzle. See? Easy!"

"Alright, now in real time." She held her fist at the ready, prepared to give Ryoko the most important test of her life.

Now came the real challenge of Ryoko’s night. As wily a foe as Sien Teist had been, and as difficult as it was to keep her secret identity a secret from the person closest to her, the real challenge here wouldn’t be doing all of that. No, it was going to be a struggle, a true test, to keep from laughing as AJ explained the intricacies of a fist bump.

It wasn’t that her advice was unsound. Sensei AJ broke it down well enough, explained it in a simple way that any first-time bumper could comprehend, clear and concise. It was just the way she was so excited to do it, overjoyed to take the reigns and teach.

”Dad, bad.” She held her fist up, horizontal. ”Gangsta, good.” Down it came, and up went her thumb. ”Got it.”

An old lady stared at them as she passed down the street. Keeping the giggles in was becoming a legitimate feat.

When AJ prepared to put it all together, Ryoko took a deep and swallowed them all, putting on the most serious face her face was capable of making without a mask. This was it. Go time.

”Boom!”

Out came her fist, easy does, slow and steady, there we go.

”Pop!”

Their fists touch, sparking lightning between them. Now came the hardest part.

”Fizzle…”

She hissed out that last word, as her fingers wiggled about and her hand retreated. Ryoku Urameshi has reached level 22. Learned Fist Bump. Yay. ”How’d I do?” She stepped back and put the goggles on top of her head, just for safekeeping until she got back home.

"Dad's only bad if you're trying to be hip... and real. Ya'dig?" She gave a few gestures that she thought were pretty hard core rapper of her, but fell in her own trap of being more dad than anything else. Thankfully Ryoko hadn't been recording MC Shay's first and hopefully last debut.

Alexa went through the fist bump motions in real time, nodding along at Ryoko. She brought her hands to her face directly after, gasping softly. "Look at you, all growed up and bumping like a pro. You are even improvising..." She knew it was grown. It was a clear choice of words, don't judge. "You're the best student I ever had." She lowered her hands with a giggle. "Also the only one. Go figure." She supposed the next round of ice cream was on her

She leap up, throwing her arm high triumphantly "100% success rate! Everybody graduates!" Touching back down she slipped her hands back into her pockets, grinning from ear to ear. This was a far better note to leave each other on than the whole tearing up thing, of that she was certain. "I'm going to let you go now, for real this time... I promise. Anything else I think of last minute I will hit you up about next time."

And just like that Ryoko wanted to go to America.

She’d never had that urge before. Not that there was anything wrong the country - at least, nothing that wasn’t wrong with her own country, in some way. She just never saw anything about it that made it worth the cost of a trip. Japan had more than enough wrestling to go around.

But now she wanted to go...with AJ. She wanted her to explain all the customs, suggest the best food, clue her in on the weirder customs. Just having her be there would make it all so much more fun.

A strange way of thinking, one that she’d never indulged in before. It was almost like…

Ryoko dismissed that thought before it could fully form. ”Thanks, again.” She tapped the goggles on her head and started to walk off, waving as she went. ”And going again. For real this time.” She took a few steps down the street, then looked back. ”Just making sure you’re good!” Another few feet. ”Taking precautions!” Further still, now. ”Last call!”

She rounded a corner and disappeared…for a few moments. Before she popped her head back around, smiling and waving from down the street. ”Bye!”

And just like that, she was gone.

"You earned them champ!" Alexa reached out to give Ryoko a playful punch on her shoulder. "Just be careful, they are plastic so... just don't drop them." Amazingly enough they had held up pretty good during the match. She only really recalled the Black Fang striking her face directly once, not that she thought about it. Another thing to be thankful for. He face still hurt a bit from where the goggles had dug in.

"Alright, be careful on the way home, okay?" She smiled broadly, giving Ryoko a big wave.

She blinked as Ryoko turned back. "I... yeah I'm good!"

Her held tilted. "That's... appreciated! Still doing pretty okay!" At this point she had broken down laughing.

"GO HOME!" She threw up her arms in a shooing gesture.

She tucked her hands into her jacket pockets, watching Ryoko walk off. She had been tempted to just ask if she wanted to stay the night. Impromptu slumber party. They could stay up all night and gossip about... well, she wasn't sure aside from wrestling stuff. It wasn't like they were in high school together to have anything juicy, and Alexa never really watched TV here. Still, it would be fun... but she didn't really have food in her fridge, or a place set out unless she had wanted a blanketless futon. She also had to hit the gym in the morning. Had she just been goofing around, or did she want to hang out more without being an inconvenience? Alexa was terrible with social cues.

Ryoko never turned back around. She couldn't help but feel a bit sad, waiting just a little while longer just in case. She even checked her phone. Nothing. That was alright though. Tonight had been great, and she really could use a long shower and a lot more sleep than what she had been getting.  Turning on her heel she marched back towards her shabby apartment building. She held her head high, with good reason. Despite still being unknown, still being inexperienced, still being mostly broke, she proved herself tonight to the person she needed to most, herself. She still ahd doubts, which was healthy for someone in her situation. She was far from out of the woods just yet. But this had been a nice sliver of light in the darkness. She felt like she belonged her, that she could do something great now. All it took was time.

As she made her way up to the apartment she checked her phone again as she rattled around for her keys. turning the phone on its side she pulled up Ryoko under her contacts. Leaning in the doorway she typed for a bit, glancing up at the distant sound of a far off birds before looking back to her phone. Her eyes drifted over the message, checking it over... Her thumb tapped the backspace as she watched it slip away back to the void until it was no more. Slipping her phone back into her pocket  with a sigh she opened up her apartment and headed inside, sure to lock up. Slipping off of her shoes she hopped over the small ledge near the entryway she slipped into her apartment proper to finish off her night.