What Doesn't Kill You

Sin still couldn’t believe she’d seen that match.

It had been, what, a week since she’d saw Zoey Jae Oh face off against Brie. Beforehand, it hadn’t been a match she would care much for. She hadn’t even wanted to really be at the Friction arena, and the only reason she’d come to watch this particular episode was because a) she was still feeling this country out and hadn’t locked on to any extracurricular activities that satisfied her particular tastes and b) management gave her free tickets, apparently trying to promote some cross-brand interactions.

It wasn’t her thing, she decided that after five minutes in. She liked combat, but more when she was the one in the ring, less when she was watching, and way less when it was the sort of neutered, ballsless stuff that Friction favored. Kawaii matches? Pudding wrestling? Bedroom brawls? Most of it was one step up from pillow fights as far as she cared. The temptation to just call it a night and head back to Kyoto was strong, and she almost gave in to it.

When a match that involved a kawaii was about to start, that urge became even stronger. She left her seat for a bathroom break, contemplating whether or not she’d come back along the way.

And then she saw Zoey.

Really saw Zoey.

She’d found herself standing on the steps, looking down at the ring as this woman bounced around and had far more trouble with a kawaii than anyone over the age of ten had any right to. She was Korean, too, Sin recognized that right away, but it wasn’t just that. Not even most of that. There was something about the way she moved. The way she kicked. Was it Tae Kwon Do?

Sin couldn’t be sure, because Zoey went and got herself beaten in one of the most humiliating loses Sin had ever seen, but something about the match stuck with her, something about Zoey Jae Oh pecked away her memory like spastic hen. So much so that she had to go online and find Zoey’s match, look up her stats, spend a night absorbing everything she could about the younger wrestler.

Through her research, she confirmed a few things. First, that Zoey was indeed using Tae Kwon Do. She wasn’t even that bad at it, honestly. Sin had seen worse. Not much worse, but worse. It was rawer version, one that reminded her a bit of her own...if she'd lacked any real talent. But she was like a surgeon trying to work with a sledgehammer. Couldn’t make any of it work, couldn’t get any real results. It would’ve been funny - come to think of it, no, it was fucking funny. But it was pathetic, too. While she didn’t have any pride for her style or her people, it was like watching a shitty parody of herself. Zoey kept on losing. And losing. And losing. And she wasn’t getting any better.

But the funny thing was, Sin could still see some potential in her. She was resilient, for one thing, able to take damage to a level that she wouldn’t have expected from someone so piss poor in all the other areas. She had a good body, well-put together. Had the basics down, likely could’ve gone crazy if she was given half a chance. Also, she was hot. Sin wasn’t too picky with her partners, but she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t a pleasure to see such a fine form on a woman from her corner of the world.

All qualities that could make for a decent sparring partner. Or a punching bag. Or both.

So, for the next few days, Sin made Zoey a small project of hers, something to do with the abundance of free time she had. Following her around, shadowing her, getting a feel for her daily routine. Enough that, at any given time, she could make a decent guess where the loudmouth likely was. As it just so happened, today she would be at the place that Sin most wanted her to be: the Friction gym.

Sin came in a little early, getting a light workout with the sandbag, battering it back and forth with some well-timed kicks, nothing too serious. Instead of her more ornate in ring attire, she opted for the simpler attire she kept around for her street fighting, her white dudou with her hot pink symbol emblazoned across it, and her tight leggings with white and pink stripes running down her the side. Her hair was loose with a bit of it died purple in the front, and her toes were open, making for a striking figure as she practiced her form and got a good workout. She might raise a few eyebrows, being a fresh face, but she wouldn’t attract too much attention - she wasn’t well known enough that people would recognize her with her hair down, if they could've at all. It was unlikely that Zoey had even seen her first Tension match, but best not to take any chances. She wanted to keep a few surprises.

Zoey was having a bad day.

Actually, that was an understatement.

Pretty much all of her days have been bad up to now ever since her last match. It's not like she hadn’t gotten used to the outcome. It’d happened more than she cared for nowadays, no matter who the opponent seemed to be or what reservations they may have had about fighting. The thing was, Zoey was at least convinced that there was some minimum requirement she was at least meeting, that she was far from the weakest this federation had to offer. That she was in no way the bottom of the roster.

But now, she wasn’t so sure. Brie hadn’t just managed to “win”, she didn’t come out on top in some way that left room for question or debate. She beat Zoey. Knocked her out cold and left her to dry out in the middle of the ring clean after the three count. The match had been decided well over a week ago, the loss still fresh on her mind from the moment her head hit the canvas.

There was a silver lining, though. She wasn't going to be scheduled for any matches anytime soon, not so soon after the stipulation was over and done with. They wanted Zoey in peak condition before they presented her in front of the world again. That gave her time to reflect, time to think. To consider what she really wanted and what she needed to do to make it through this place. After a lot of rumination and second-guessing, after a lot of thinking from her time with Brie, a lot of time starting the answer in the face and not willing to acknowledge it, Zoey had to face reality:

She had to get better.

So, for the first time in a long while after her late morning jogs, instead of heading back home and picking up on her last session of Witcher, she made her next stop at the Friction gym. She went in, stayed for a couple hours, practiced her kicks, worked the leg press, then went home. That was more or less her routine for the last few days, varying in the intensity a bit and actively ignoring any tips from the passing trainers. She wasn’t much of a fitness nut, truth be told.

Something did feel...off about the last couple days, though. Whenever she was on her phone during downtime, it was like someone was looking over her shoulder, but no one was there when she turned around. Like someone was sitting across from her whenever she sat to have lunch. She found herself double-checking the locks on her door at night and hurrying home before it got too dark. She did her best to chalk it up to nerves, though. All of the uneasiness of the past week must have been playing with her mind.

Today was no different from any other. Zoey kept reminding herself of that as she thought of how to step up her routine and walked down the hallway towards the gym. She kept her flashy ring gear at home and went with the old reliables, a light blue tank top, a pair of black boyshorts, and some light blue and white trainers she found in the back of her closet a while back. She touted her gym bag over her shoulder as she walked, with only a water bottle, her wallet, and some wrapping tape inside. No spare clothes, though. Not a chance she was stepping into the lockers here. Not ones owned by this promotion.

When she came to the increasingly familiar set of double doors, she took a second to peek inside, hearing the usual commotion on the other end and wanting to scout out the scene. She peered over to the side and, yep, there was her usual gym bag. The one with a couple holes in it and no one ever wanted to use. Someone was at the bag next to it, though. Couldn’t see her from here, but Zoey didn’t pay it much mind, so long as they didn’t bother her. She pushed through the doors and threw a quick eye around. The place was a bit less active than usual, but still plenty of busybodies wandering around. Looked like a spar was just finishing up in the ring, and the few watching were moving to disperse.

Zoey shrugged and turned to her right towards the bags. She kept hearing some loud claps as she approached from the side, likely coming from whoever she spotted. Zoey couldn’t make her out right away from this angle. There was a bit of dark hair, a flash of pink and white, but nothing that made a complete image. Zoey came up to the side of the bag and placed a hand against the side for no reason in particular, throwing her gym bag off her shoulder and tossing it off to her side without much of a care. She stepped back and cracked her knuckles, about to get to work, when another clap made her jump on the spot. Furrowing her brows in a slight scowl, Zoey stepped out from around the side, her mouth open as if she were about to say something…

...but didn’t. Her lips stayed slightly parted, a bit of air making its way in and out between the thin space as Zoey’s eyes stayed forward on the woman in front of her. She’d never seen this woman before. She would have remembered if she did. Asian, by the looks of it, but with some features that weren’t native to here. Korean, maybe? There was something to click on. Zoey didn’t know what accidental circumstances landed the two of them next to one another in this crazy part of the world, but she definitely wasn’t complaining.

There was no soft-selling a body like this. The long and flowing dark hair, the creamy, supple skin, those shapely and alluring curves that only stood out all the more in that form-fitting attire. Perfect. Sexy from head to toe. It was a body made for throwing kicks like that and looking flawless doing it. It only showed the more Zoey saw her in action. Good form. Great speed. Even greater power for someone that size. She thought she recognized the technique though, seeing a bit of her old sensei in the delivery and grace. Was that…

Zoey snapped her eyes away and quickly disappeared back around the sandbag, noticing the woman’s gaze shift. Crap, did she notice her? Did she think she was staring? Maybe she should say something. A good way to break the ice at least. She was about to, but instead scratched the back of her head quickly as she looked down at her feet. Eh, forget it. She was here to practice, not ogle hot women, tempting as that sounded.

With a slight breath, Zoey kicked off her trainers and rolled them to the side, letting her feet grace the mat and the blood flow freely through her feet. She gave her quads a couple stretches, did a few snap kicks off to the side, then stepped back and bounced back and forth on her heels. She worked the bag with a couple roundhouse kicks then turned herself sideways before pivoting on her front foot and throwing a spinning back kick dead center into the leather. The bag creaked and teetered back, ready for more. Good power, but not what she was looking for. She went back to her roundhouse kicks, experimenting with what kind of power she could muster.

And there she was. On time, give or take a few minutes. Punctual. Predictable.

Sin kept kicking away as Zoey entered the room, only giving her quick glances in between her kicks, making her eyes with the twirling of her hair. Best to be subtle about this, at least at first. Come to Zoey, show some interest make some small talk, put her at ease. Catching flies with honey, that sort of thing. From what she’d heard, spars broke out between wrestlers for every reason under the sun - it was one of the things that attracted her to the AFW in the first place, as a matter of fact.

She was more than ready to do whatever song and dance she needed to get their paths to cross in this gym. Coincidentally bump into her, exchange a few names, get her heated up. Say something untowards about her mother. Zoey seemed like a ridiculously simple woman to rile, it couldn’t be that hard.

She was just starting to ponder her options when an unexpected one presented itself: was it her imagination, or was Zoey giving her a look over?

Sin paused in mid-kick, her leg chambered in the air as she threw a sharp gaze towards Zoey from the corner of her eye, just in time to see the waif duck behind a sandbag. It took no small amount of effort to keep from laughing out loud, and even so, she had to mask her snickering with the sound of another kick. She’d seen Zoey’s match with Eirina - a match she’d enjoyed for multiple reasons - so it was no real surprise which team she played for, but she hadn’t expected to draw her in like this. Did she look that good in this outfit? Seemed so. Good to know.

Regardless, it was something she could work with, her 'in'. When Zoey started on her own sandbag, Sin gave hers a couple of extra snap kicks, then turned away and went for a stroll, taking the long way around to stay out of Zoey’s eyeline, padding along the floor with light steps. She came around just in time to see her launch what was actually a decent spinning back kick, though there was some room for improvement.

Coming up behind Zoey, just a few feet away, she opened her mouth to speak, then closed it right  up as an idea popped into her head. It had been a long while since she’d had the chance to converse in her own language, and while she could speak Japanese and English well enough to get by, it was always nice to give her tongue a break.

[“Good form.”] She leaned forward and let her native language slide of the tongue, putting on a pleasing smile with her hands behind her back, standing on the balls of her feet. [“Good. But it helps to step into the spinning back kick. Build momentum, put some body weight into it. Gives it some extra impact.”]

...music. That was what she was missing.

Zoey thought something had felt off for a while as she kept working away on the bag for a bit. It was harder to get into a rhythm and she was noticing things that she hadn’t before. She was so caught up in her training that she straight up forgot her Bluetooth earbuds had run out of juice after her run.

Dang.

She puffed her cheeks and blew a bit of frustrated air from her lips before she hit the bag a little harder. Friggin’ idiot. How could she forget to charge it? She never forgot that. There was something about losing access to your workout mix that did a number on the temper. Definitely wasn’t helping with the tension that was already surrounding her day today. What was going on? Zoey did her best to shake it off, though. The sooner she sorted this all out.

Winding up for another kick, this one aiming high, Zoey suddenly stumbled forward as a voice from behind nearly took her off balance. She recovered right away, quickly whipping her head around and throwing a glare behind her. That look went straight away. Her eyes went wide for a second, suddenly finding the woman behind her. When did she get there? Zoey didn’t see her pass by. Almost just as weirdly, she was speaking Korean. Confirmed her suspicions at least, but it was still interesting to hear. Almost everyone around here seemed to default to either English or Japanese, since that pretty much defined the roster. Maybe she didn’t know it?

Guess Zoey should count herself lucky then that she grew up under immigrants. It’d been a while since she’d needed to brush up on it, but she could piece together what the woman was saying easily enough.

[“Oh. Right.”] After a not-so-subtle double take, Zoey took her stance again and fired another spinning back kick, this time with the helpful woman’s advice. Lo and behold, the bag snapped way further back, so much so that Zoey actually took a step to the side, fearing the recoil. She looked back over her shoulder, hesitant to meet Sin’s gaze.

["Thanks.”] She straightened her posture and turned on the spot to fully face the kicker, unconsciously letting her eyes wander up her form now that she had a proper view from the front, catching details she hadn't noticed before. Zoey had a slight height advantage on her, but she was seeing more than that. The toned abdomen, the slight contours on her arms and shoulders, some of the thick muscle stretching through her leggings. This wasn’t some typical AFW model. She caught a bit of it from the way she hit that bag, but this confirmed it. This woman was a fighter, through and through. A helpful fighter at that. A helpful fighter that knew how to kick. Seems Lady Luck finally decided to do her a solid. Took the skank long enough.

Okay, play it cool. She caught you staring. Big deal. It's AFW. Hot women get stared at all the time. What’s more important is that she actually wants to talk. Just roll with it. [“You...kick a lot of things?”] What the actual fuck, Zoey? [“I mean...I noticed you working on that bag a second ago. Wasn’t trying to stare or anything. Just thought you were...pretty good.”] She reached up and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. [“That was Taekwondo, right? My eyes weren’t playing with me?”]

[“And there you go.”]

The smile Sin cracked at Zoey’s success wasn’t completely ingenuine. There was something surreal and satisfying about seeing her advice payoff, the sort of advice she’d never really needed when she was training. Even more so because it actually got a decent result - she knew that Zoey could do better, and sure enough, she proved her right. Even Zoey taken by surprise, as if she didn’t know what her own legs could do, didn’t know they were capable of that kind of force.

A shame, because they weren’t bad legs. Zoey had these two weapons, capable of doing so much more. They could’ve wrecked at least some of her opponents. At least the kawaii. She had the tools, but…

Sin chewed on her lip, forcing some calm to take over. She had a role to play, and judging from they was she was being oogled by those twin sapphires in the middle of Zoey’s face, she wasn’t doing that bad of a job. As her potential sparring partner spoke, Sin took a single step forward, moving into the edge of her personal space - not quite close enough to cross an unspoken boundaries, but enough that they could take in each other’s scent with only the slightest sniff.

[”Stare all you want.”] There was a hint of a laugh in her voice, a knowing smile, a devilish glint in her eyes. There was some attraction, here, and Zoey needed to know it wasn’t one-sided, even if she didn’t know why.

She lifted her legs behind her back, pulled at the ankle and stretching a bit to show off. She could bend it far higher than this, but she was trying to give Zoey something to look at while they made some banter, not showing off. Not yet. Save those cards for later. [”It’s Taekwondo, good eyes. My own form of it, anyway.”] Sin moved over to the other leg, giving her toes a playful wiggle as they rose. ”And thanks. You’re ‘pretty good’, too.”

Just a little tease. It’s okay, Zoey. Just small talk.

[“Moon Sin-Jae.”] She stood straight again and gave Zoey a small bow, then extended her hand for a shake after a moment of quick contemplation, curiosity playing across her face. She knew that Zoey wasn’t native Korean from what she’d seen of the woman, but that was another card to keep closer to her chest. [“I’m not throwing you with the language, right? It’s just been so long since I’ve had the chance to speak it with anybody, and when I saw your face and figured where you from…” She shrugged and tossed her hair back with a whip of her head. “Couldn’t resist. Can speak English fine, if you like.”]

Truth. She hadn’t lied to Zoey yet, come to think of it. Sin wondered how long she could keep that up.

Alright. Jump scare introductions aside, this woman was making far from the worst first impression Zoey had ever gotten. She wasn’t mad, even if that would have been easier to understand. She still didn’t fully understand why she was talking to her, but she assumed that would just come in time, and even if it didn’t, there wasn’t much to complain about.

She did, however, get a major hint with the ‘staring’ comment. Zoey didn’t process it right away, just thinking her Korean was still a little rusty, but the look in Sin’s eyes and the tone of her voice clued her in quickly enough. Her lips puckered forward in an extended, unspoken ‘oh’ as her eyes, with Sin’s permission, made another quick trip from top to bottom. She thought, for a second, that she may have just been reading into things too much. And then the stretching happened. The showing off. The words that accompanied it were the icing on the cake, but the real meat was in the moment. That subtle, impressive flexibility that Zoey had only dreamed about once upon a time. [“Yeah...thought so…”]

There was more to this woman than met the eye, wasn’t there? She’d been to plenty of gyms in her life, most of them in this very country after the move, but this was easily the most interesting she’d ever come acro-

Oh. Right. This was the Friction gym, wasn’t it? Zoey was still a rookie by the company’s standards, but she’d been around long enough to hear plenty of rumors about this particular gym. Fights broke out a lot, sure. But when that wasn’t happening, it was a place where sexy women got together, trained, sparred, got nice and sweaty, went to shower down and…

Zoey shook her head, getting out of the spellbound state she’d unknowingly drifted into. She placed a hand on her hip and relaxed into her posture, getting a bit more comfortable with things. She at least had a vague idea of what was going on here, but there was no reason to act on it yet. Knowing that the trip across the world, alongside nearly a year of roughing things up in the ring, hadn’t done too bad a number on her looks was always a confidence booster. It only got better once she finally had a name to go along with the person in front of her.

[“Zoey Jae Oh.”] She took Sin’s hand, shaking it with a small nod of her head. [“Good meeting you.”] She took a slight step back, letting her back touch her punching bag as Sin continued speaking. Zoey waved off her suggestion with a slight smile. [“No, no. It's alright. I actually grew up in America, if you could guess from my name, so English is second nature for me. I’d rather do what’s easier for you. I’m cool with it.”]  At the very least, this was a decent exchange so far, doing a good bit for the morale. There was more to get out of this. Even she could see that much. [“If you don't mind, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before. New to Japan? Kicked anyone out cold back in...Seoul?”] Don't know why she guessed that exactly, but you didn't really get many country girls from across the sea.

That’s right. Get comfortable. Lean back. Relax. Pose a little. Show off, be at ease , laugh and have a good time.

Zoey was easing into the situation well, shedding the nervous skin she’d started with as their rapport began to build. She took Sin’s suggestion and ran with it, feasting her eyes, and she encouraged with a quick lick of her lips and a flexing of her thighs. Unless her guess was off, Zoey was a something a leg lover. Not surprising given the style, but something to make note of and admire - it wouldn’t hurt for them to share some tastes.

[“Zoey Jae Oh.”] Sin repeated the name after she heard it, letting it dance over her lips, sighing it almost as much as she spoke it, with half a laugh at the end. She brought on knowing smile when Zoey shared her heritage and that smile only grew wider when she acquiesced to keep on speaking their native language.

So polite. So welcoming. Sin had honestly expected a little more resistance from the younger taekwondoin, figuring her for a rambunctious type, but it seemed recent events had humbled her. Either that, or she was just that taken with the palpable attraction between them. Or both.

It was good for her purposes, but she hoped to bring that spark out. Zoey had good fire, even if she didn’t know how to focus it anything useful.

[“I might have guessed. Don’t think I’ve come across too many ‘Zoeys’ back home.”] She dipped forward, just enough to let out a quick, soft whisper. [“Shame. I like the sound of it.”]

Sin spun about on her heel and took a step away from Zoey, lifting up her arms and shifting her hips, showing off more of her body under the guise of stretching. [”Seoul, yeah, good guess.”] She arched her back enough for Zoey to see her wink, then straightened up and turned back around, still not trying to lay it on too thick.

[“I got drafted into Tension, a month or so ago. It’s fine, I like men enough, but...”] She rubbed her neck as she looked over her shoulder, putting on a little sheepish, furrowing the brow. [“I like the scenery better in this gym, let’s say that. And when I saw you over here, going at it, with a face like yours and that technique and those legs, well…”] Sin held up her hands, guilty, and let a few strands roll off her shoulder. [“You reeled me in, had to say something. Not bugging you too much, am I?”][/color]

Zoey had boyfriends. Had some girlfriends. Thought she had enough to know what she more or less liked in either. She thought she understood what flirting was like, knew all the signals and what to watch out for, that she had “romance” down to a certified “T”.

Then she joined AFW and met Moon Sin-Jae, and her whole world took a cartwheel.

Contrary to the answers in the post-match interviews she’d been asked to do, Zoey hadn’t forgotten about her bout with Eirina. There was a fundamental difference she could feel between then and now. Eirina wasn’t sly about her intentions. From the outset, she filled the ring with this crazy, lust-driven energy, taunting and teasing the whole way with that two-piece string cloth she called ring attire. As an experience, it was mind-melting. She brought it to you whether you liked it or not.

Sin was different. She was sly. She was subtle. She was coy. The words she spoke flowed like honey off her tongue, drawing you in with each and every word. It worked the ears like silk, unconsciously luring Zoey closer into her proximity. She didn't miss a beat, speaking in a tone that accomplished everything her “stretching” couldn't. Zoey sucked in a bit of breath as Sin leaned forward, whispering those lovely words, letting Zoey taste them on her tongue before walking back with a bit of a show. This encounter had to be more than just a passing interest. Surely.

Zoey did her best to look past that all that for now, though. This was a good time to get to know her. Save the ogling for later. There were plenty of other things to be pleasantly surprised at, like the fact that Zoey was apparently more in touch with her homeland than she thought, considering her guess was on point.

Tension? She was good enough to kick men around, huh? Zoey had done her fair share of research before contract negotiations to know what the biggest chunk of the male “competition” was really like. Dudes that just called themselves wrestlers to get closer to women like Sin, which, in hindsight, Zoey couldn’t at all blame them for. Didn’t mean they were all pushovers, though. If Sin could hang with any one of the destroyers that lumbered through Tension’s hallways, she definitely wasn’t someone Zoey should just brush off. She actually got a bit of kick out of the idea of her taking on a giant like King, zipping left and right and dancing around like a Taekwondo fairy.

She’d have to keep a log on the Tension schedule. Maybe take a trip over and sit in on a match or two whenever she was on. Visit her backstage, chat a bit, go out for drinks, catch a cab back to her place-

Getting ahead of yourself, dude. Reel back. Sin may have been in a different ballpark, but there could be something to gain here. There was at least a mutual interest in technique clearly, amongst all other things.

[“You? Never. Don’t even worry about it. I mean, if you want me to be honest, these lovely ladies get admirers all the time.”] She said, leaning down a tracing a hand down her thigh, keeping her eyes on Sin’s. [“You learn to make time.”] She shrugged and brought herself upright, bringing a bit more confidence in her smile. [“I'm kind of thankful for it, honestly. Sometimes you need a good distraction or two. I train so much I sometimes forget to just step back and...enjoy the scenery. Yeah.”] She crossed her arms, cocking her head a bit to the side. ["Bother me whenever you want. I've got all day."]

It was hard for Sin to quantify her talent when it came to martial arts. Some people were good at singing, able to please the ears before an instructor ever got to them. Some people could do complicated math in their head, could even outpace a calculator if they tried hard enough. Sin? For her, martial arts just clicked. She could take to it like she was born to, and she put little time into figuring out why that was.

But if she had to pick a single aspect of it, one that she could use in and out of the ring, it was a knack for reading faces.

As they spoke, Sin looked at Zoey’s face, straying ever so often to take in the rest. Oh, it might’ve seemed like she was just looking her younger counterpart in the eye - and, to be fair, Zoey’ s eyes were a genuine beauty. Shimmering sapphires set in the middle of her face, twin drops of clear water, gleaming and glistening in the pale light of the room.

So lovely. With a tear here and there, to make them really shine…

No. No, save those thoughts for later. Sin only let it out with a knowing smile, one of the many pleasant expressions she was going through at the moment, as Zoey returned her flirtations in kind. She wasn’t half bad at it. Maybe trying a little too hard, and it would’ve worked better if Sin hadn’t seen her being stomped by a kawaii just a few days ago. But a good effort. Nice confidence.

She answered the unspoken invitation to gaze at Zoey’s legs, watching as she ran a hand over her svelte thighs. Sin took a short step close, an idle movement, and started to reach out with a hesitant hand, as if she were considering a touch herself...but she stopped and perked up with Zoey’s latest words. Eyes widened, the sure sign of an idea crossing her mind, followed by a return to that knowing smile. It seemed they were on the same page. Time to turn it.

[”Do you really?”] She stepped back, still facing Zoey, and bounced on the balls of her feet, hair whipping about. [“I was just going to spend the afternoon with that sandbag, but I think you’re much better company. Maybe…”] She tapped her chin, considering her words, before she waved that same finger Zoey’s way. [“Maybe we can have a little spar? Get a private room. Work with each. Compare and contrast. Continue to swap thinly veiled come-ons.”]

Sin reached up and gave her a tag on the forehead, muffling a giggle as she did. [“Whatever pops in our heads.”]

There were a lot of lingering problems with Zoey’s learning process. She was impatient, she was straightforward, she had a hard time turning method to practice. But if there was one, central problem that she could nail down in the blink of an eye, it would be that she was never fond of asking for help. That was one complaint that always seemed to crop up for as long as she really cared to remember. Parents, teachers, tutors, friends, pretty much any time she went to the grocery store herself, she just didn’t ask for a helping hand whenever she clearly needed it. It wasn’t that she couldn’t. She just didn’t want it.

There was something about getting through each day on her own two feet that just felt right to her. No matter what happened, she could at least hang her hat knowing everything she earned was with her own strength. She found herself appreciating that more so nowadays. As if she couldn’t do it herself, then it’d just make her weaker. It’s wasn’t like people were always going to be there.

So, in some way, it was a bit of a relief that Sin ended up being the one to offer up. If this were most any other person making that suggestion, she probably would have turned it down, but there was a mutual desire here that she couldn’t deny. It was only even harder to do so as the proximity between them closed even tighter, the finger to Zoey’s forehead bringing a bit of color to her cheeks. Zoey could see the potential latent in this woman, the years of experience lingering in every inch of her body. They even both built their styles off of the same foundation: Taekwondo. Training together with Sin couldn’t have been any more obvious if God shined a light down on her.

There was a bit of hesitation, of course. A feeling made clear by the way the TKD chick quirked an eyebrow and ran a few fingers down the side of her cheek. As helpful, skilled, and drop-dead sexy as this woman may have been, Zoey still didn’t know her. She hadn't been around long, but it was enough to know that AFW had some...interesting characters in its listing. Outright madmen by the outside world's standards. But, at the same time, she couldn't just stay squared off forever. A solid year had nearly passed, and the Korean-American had little to show for it. If she wanted to hang with the best, that meant training with them. Besides, what was it that old Uncle Vesemir always said? Don't train alone, only embeds your errors? All she had to do was say ‘yes’.

But that wasn’t the game they were playing.

[“I can dig that.”] She grinned, standing herself upright. [“I gotta warn you though. My spars can get pretty intense. Hard shit.”] She brought a hand up, looking off to the side as she reminisced. [“Like, this one time I nailed this girl with a tornado kick barely a minute in. Knocked her into the infirmary for two days.”] Her club captain actually did that, and the ‘girl’ was actually her. But everything’s relative when you look back on it. She brought her gaze back to Sin, stretching her smile a bit from the corner of her mouth as she took a small step forward. [“If we're gonna do this, you gotta know what you’re getting into. I’m one of the best around here in Friction. I’ll come in fast, and I’ll come in hard.”] She leaned forward, bringing her head to the side, her lips just gracing Sin’s immaculate locks as she whispered into her ear. [“Think you can keep up?”]