A Reunion of Sorts (for Daaharu)

"Fifty eight...fifty nine..sixty..."

With a deep exhalation, Emily finally took a break from the chest fly, letting the handles of the machine ease up as she sat back up and took a swig from her bottle of water. Her skin shone with sweat, and her fuschia gym bra and shorts were beginning to absorb the perspiration as well. Grabbing her nearby towel, she matted herself off as, with her free hand, she grabbed her phone to absent-mindedly flick through the current league updates. While she came here to the gym every once in a while to keep herself at peak physical capacity, to unwind, and to get away from the constant drama of the league...but that didn't mean she had no interest in what might be happening next.

As it stood, it was the usual news she had been hearing over the past couple of days: the ongoing drama with the Bullet Club, the ever-increasing feuds between the Northmans and what felt like half the AFW roster, Valley Doll's big move to Tension (she smiled at this, remembering her match with Valley, and wondering how she was going to handle such a testosterone-laden environment)...and, there it was, a number of new matches scheduled for Megumi Mutoh, Blade Uehara, and recent arrival Toshimi Minimi. More and more ex-Wrestle Angels were joining to AFW roster, and more and more were returning to the spotlight.

Except Emily, of course. She had never been much in the spotlight. There had been a time when, as one of the first of the Angels to jump ship to AFW, Emily seemed to be getting plenty of matches. Now, aside from the odd tag match with Risako, the league seemed to have a harder time finding opponents for the Noble Fighter. Either that, or they had just lost interest in her.

Sighing, Emily put her phone back in her gym bag, leaned back in the seat of the chest fly and took another sip from her bottled water, and let her mind wander away from that unpleasant topic. The gym was  mostly deserted, so at least she had this time to think to herself...

It was an off hour in the gym, early on a weekend morning when most of the girls who usually crowded into it, jostling each other for space in the practice rings and on the treadmills, were still in bed or getting breakfast, unwinding after a stressful week. Odessa didn't mind going into the gym early like this. She could earn her Sunday brunch after a good workout, and it was much more pleasant for her to be here working up a sweat than sleeping in or being lazy and watching television. She had an interesting podcast lined up, and she started off with a quick series of stretches, then a set with the free weights, then the leg press, the rowing machine...

She had worked up a good sweat, aided by the slightly muggy late spring air outside, as the whole world seemed to be right on the cusp of a change in seasons, straining against the wall between spring and summer, about to break through. It was a fun time of year, one that Odessa always cherished. Today, she thought, might be a good day to enjoy brunch at an open-air café, then go for a walk down by the seaside. A shame none of her girlfriends had been available to join her today.

She walked from one room of the gym to the next, planning on the chest fly next. Not that her chest needed much in the way of enhancing. Before she made it to the machine, though—one of two chest fly machines which sat side by side—she noted the presence of one of the few other wrestlers who were currently working out.

And, as luck would have it, it was a familiar—albeit, sadly, not so familiar, as of late—face to the London-born beauty. "Well, well, hello," she cooed, pausing in front of the other wrestler, one hand on her hip, dark skin glistening, her black-and-white sports bra and shorts clinging to her figure.

The familiar voice caused Emily to almost jump There, standing before her, clad as though ready for a workout, was Odessa Brock, one of the most frequent title contenders in Friction, and an infamous rival to the likes of Cecilia Northman, and without a doubt one of the toughest ladies in the league. She was also a former opponent of Emily's, in what had been one of her biggest, and possibly the most risque, match to date in the AFW.

And, Emily noted, she still looked as spectacular as ever.

"Odessa," Emily noted in surprise. "I...funny seeing you here." As much as she tried to suppress it, Emily couldn't help but blush slightly as she saw Odessa. When they had last fought, it had been a heated, angry match between them...one that had ended with them both stripped naked and furiously making out in the middle of the ring. Although Emily always loathed hentai matches and utterly refused to expose or demean herself in the ring...something of a spark had lit between the two of them, and neither she nor Odessa had been able to stop themselves in that intense, sensual struggle.

The match had ended in a draw, and with an invitation by Odessa for a rematch, of sorts, backstage and in private. But Emily had never taken her up on that offer. Maybe it was embarassment over what had just happened. Or maybe she was unable to truly come to terms with her feelings. Or maybe she was scared to jump into what might turn into a relationship. Whatever the reason, Emily had never followed through, and up until now, she hadn't seen Odessa since. And if Emily was honest, she had always regretted that fact.

Emily stood up, continuing to towel herself off as she did so. "What brings you..." she stopped herself, realizing the question was stupid and the answer was obvious. "Here fer a workout as well, I see? It's a nice enough day fer it."

Emily and Odessa had fought a long, long time ago—almost a lifetime, or so it seemed, when Odessa thought back on all the intervening events in her life and around the globe. She had tangled with the Scottish wrestler on the eve of Scotland's independence referendum, and, as huge as that had seemed at the time, the chaos that had engulfed global society in the years since had dwarfed it.

Emily seemed to be doing well for herself, though, and Odessa was glad to see it. Odessa had always wondered whether their paths would cross again, having seen only fleeting glimpses of Emily since that initial encounter, never having matched up with each other again, and not even so much as an invitation for tea. It wasn't anyone's fault, of course—Odessa imagined that Emily's dance card must have been almost as full as her own lately, and goodness knew Odessa had quite a few interests to juggle, both within and beyond the ring.

"Mm hmm, I am just trying to sneak in a bit of exercise so that I can enjoy the rest of the day with a guilt-free mind," Odessa would say, shrugging and shifting her weight easily from one foot to the other. She smiled, enjoying Emily's cute Scottish twang. "And what brings you here on this fine day, love?"

If Emily was struggling to hide her blush before, it became even harder to do so as she caught a glimpse of Odessa's smile and the faintest, laughing hint of a flirt in her voice. Nonetheless, she gave a faint smile back, allowing herself to drop some of the guard that she hadn't even realized had been up. "More or less th'same," the Scotswoman replied, absent-mindedly toying with the edge of her towel before wiping down her face. "Thought I'd get some quick exercise in while the gym was empty, then have th'rest of the day to myself." And after that last, brutal tag match against Alaina Sanders and Peggy McIntyre, she thought, she would need the recuperation.

Rolling the towel under her arm, Emily put one hand on her hip in an unconscious mirror of Odessa's pose. "But enough about me and my boring day. From what I've here, ye've been having plenty of adventures since we last met." Emily smile became a little bolder. "What was it now, one title match? Two?"

Odessa was a natural extrovert, never having had much trouble talking with people, whether they be friends or strangers. Emily was obviously not quite the same personality type as Odessa, but equally obvious was the fact that the Londoner's smile was infectious. Emily seemed to slide easily enough back into conversing with Odessa after that initial hesitation.

"Good woman, thinking ahead like that. That's what puts wrestlers such as us ahead," Odessa mused. She noticed the way Emily now mirrored her pose as she stood, after wiping some of the sweat from her body. And when Emily asked her about her title matches, smiling a little more excitedly, Odessa chuckled, shrugged one shoulder, and smiled a little bit broader, as well.

"Oh, well, you know how it goes...a hardcore contendership here, a world title contest there. Though I can't remember whether the first was before or after our match..." She pondered for a second, but didn't want to waste Emily's time recapping her whole career to figure it out for certain. "Too many opponents getting lucky for my aspirations to come true, sorry to say. Though I will certainly be punishing Ceci in short order, as retribution." She paused, licked her lips, then added: "All in good fun, of course."

Emily's eyebrow raised at the mention of Cecilia Northman. Of course, she remembered the Swede all too well, with the Northern Queen having been one of the first to defeat her in her time in AFW, and the two had had several encounters since then...often with the Swede very blatantly flirting with her. From what Emily knew, Cecilia was something of a mutual acquaintance, as she and Odessa had clashed repeatedly over the years.

"Hmm, that sounds like an entertaining wee brawl," Emily replied with a chuckle. "Though if I remember Cecilia...nay, Ceci, I'll 'ave tae use that from now on...she's a tough one, especially when you're trying t' punish her." She slid the towel into her bag. "Looking t'do some preparation before this match, I take it?"

Odessa imagined that Emily had seen her latest title match, the world championship brawl with her longtime archrival Ceci, based on her comment regarding Odessa's title shots. Emily, of course, couldn't have seen the fighting which went on backstage, which was a given any time Odessa and her blonde-haired counterpart encountered each other. It got Odessa going just thinking about their near-nude groping and grappling session in the locker room.

"Oh, certainly she's tough," Odessa agreed, "but I know how to break her, how to tame her. I've done it often enough." Odessa Brock was never one to be overconfident, and she would give any rival all the credit in the world for being able to push her to—or past—her limits. But talking about Cecilia Northman always seemed to put this edge in her tone. "To be honest, there isn't a firm date for my next dance with Ceci as of yet. But just in case I run into her, best I be in peak fighting form."

She shifted her weight, hand still on her hip, then moved to sit down on the machine next to the one Emily occupied. "And how about you, darling? Have a particular match you're preparing for?"

Emily could see that Odessa was settling down now for some exercise, and a part of her didn't want to intrude upon her, and was already thinking of a way for a hasty exit. If Emily was honest, it was because she was still conscious of how long it had been since the two had run into one another after their...well, intimate...match the last time around, and that was making this whole scene a little awkward for her. If there was one thing that Emily's upper-class upbringing had instilled in her, however, it was a proper sense of manners, and so she resolved to stay. Besides which, if she was honest, she had missed not running into Odessa after all this time.

She sat down on the edge of her own machine. "Nothing in particular," she admitted. "If anything, I've just finished recovering from a tag bout. Alaina Sanders-- the Amazon, ye ever run into her? Well, she hits like a bloody freight truck, she does." She absently mindedly rubbed the back of her neck, feeling some lingering ache at the base of her spine. "Otherwise, no matches in th' cards at th' moment." At that moment, her mind drifted back to her match against Freia, of how Risako had gotten involved, and how Thunder Ryuko had interfered, and her hand involuntarily clenched. "I do 'ave unfinished business, but no date's been set for that, sadly."

Odessa was glad that Emily was compelled to stay, since in large part she had sat down so readily because the Scottish wrestler was still seated beside her. She was settling in for both the conversation and the workout. There was no reason not to continue with both, since Odessa had never found much difficulty in multitasking. Her own upper-class upbringing had afforded her plenty of opportunities to practice.

"Can't say I've ever run into that Amazon." Emily didn't have any matches scheduled for the immediate future, so she was there for much the same reason as Odessa: to earn the fun she was planning to have over the weekend, while staying in shape just in case someone wanted to pick a fight. "Well, if you were of a mind for it, it is easier to work out with a partner," Odessa suggested, as she settled back into the seat and grabbed the bars with both hands, getting ready for a chest fly of her own—her magnificent breasts didn't just maintain themselves.

"Anything in particular you want to hone in order to settle that unfinished business? Arms, legs, core...?" Odessa queried. "I recently went through a bit of a tummy phase, myself, after one particular match."