Hobbs and Shaw

Edward Sealgair sighed as the hot water of the Tension locker room shower cleansed his body of sweat and blood, his long blonde hair unbraided and hanging slick behind him, having just defeated Junsu in the first round of the Nekketsu Title Tournament. While Junsu was not the most difficult opponent on his own, his willingness to cheat, and cheat often, made the fight much harder than it probably should have been for the blonde teenage scotsman, even earning him what would be his first ever wrestling scar, a small wound right where an elbow had split his eyebrow.

But soon, the water would clear away the blood, and the medical staff had already assured him that it wasn't deep enough to require stiches. Once he was freshly cleaned up and dried off, he was quick to throw on some gym shorts, a tank top, and put a small bandage over his eyebrow, slightly annoyed that the only one the medical staff could apparently offer him was...a pink Hello Kitty bandage, because of course that was the only one they had.

Brushing his long hair behind him, he grabbed a hair-tie from his back, forcing his golden locks into place with a quick and lazy ponytail, grabbing his bag and leaving the mixed-gender locker room, eager to get back to the apartment he shared with his friend and fellow wrestler Ryo, hoping to relax and unwind the rest of the night.

Leah Shaw waited patiently outside the locker room, idly browsing the internet on her phone as she waited. Like most Tension tapings, she had been on hand this evening in case she was called upon last minute or if some manner of an open challenge was to be placed. While there had been no such luck in grasping any new opportunity, one had stared her in the face towards the end of today's taping. Her opponent for the Nekketsu tournament would be crowned tonight, so she had made it a conscious choice to take this as a chance to scout the competition. While she had never really been one to do much homework on opponents, after coming up short in the Elimination Chamber she had started to take her career path slightly more seriously.

A few people came and went, catching a glance from her in passing but little more than a soft "hey" or an upnodded "Yo" if they seemed especially cool. She had started to wonder if she had missed the person she was looking for, perhaps they had even snuck out and away from her. She considered this for a moment before the door swung open again and she caught sight of his distinctive ponytail from behind. Tucking away her phone, she pushed off the wall to jog down the hall after Edward, meeting pace alongside him as he walked.

"Hey there! I don't know if you know me, but we're about to face off against each other. Mmm, not now, but in the tournament… I'm Leah!" She scurried out in front of him, coming to a stop to keep the conversation from happening on the move. To compensate for the intrusion, the grinning blond rookie shoved a hand out, offering a shake. "Those were some pretty cool moves out there tonight. Curious how many of them you think you can hit me with though."

Ed rubbed his neck, thankful the hot water had relaxed his slim muscles, when the sound of quickly approaching footsteps had him curiously turn his head and move to the side to let whoever it was pass...except they didn't pass, instead darting in front of him while speaking, causing him to stop in his tracks.

Secondly, the person speaking to him was...the incredibly adorable Leah Shaw. Edward, always one to study his opponents when he could, (which, so far, had been rare in his AFW career) had begun looking up the woman's career since the tournament had been announced, and he had to admit...she was very impressive.

She was also very attractive, smiling at him like that, which is why it took Edward a second to reply to her handshake offer, a slight red twinge in his cheeks as he shook her hand.

"H-hi there. I'm Edward. Edward Sealgair. I actually know who you are, you've been making some waves around here lately. I saw that elbow you dropped on that Dasher guy. That was pretty spectacular, and your outfit was pretty wild as well. It was cool to see, even if you did eliminate my friend Ryo."

He reached out, accepting her offer and shaking her hand with a firm grip...before blushing a bit more red as she complimented his moves, teasing him about if he could hit any on her. A girl this cool, and she watched his match? That was...pretty awesome. He grinned widely, rubbing the back of his golden haired head in a humble manner.

"You liked my moves huh? Thanks, that means a lot actually. Takes a lot of practice to get a 630 to land just right. I'd have put that guy away sooner if he hadn't been a jerk and cheated." he said, before his mental voice began to yell at him.

"Cmon you blagard, she's your next opponent, she's trying to size you up, make yourself sound more impressive than that!" he thought to himself, before changing his facial expression to a more cocky grin.

"But don't get too ahead of yourself, I didn't need much to take out that arrogant, cute, pop star, but I've got a lot of tricks I've yet to show off that I've been saving for the right opponent. Maybe you'll get to see some of my really cool moves when we wrestle."

"Ugh… Dasher. What a total creep… Oh, yeah? I didn't know you knew Ryo! I hope he was alright after that match. I wasn't really in a good place to check on him after everything was over. He's a pretty goofy guy, huh?" What Leah lacked in a professional firm grip she more than made up for in the enthusiasm of the shake itself as the two joined hands. All the while she never stopped smiling even as Edward fumbled over himself, not really judging him at all for his sheepishness.

"Yeah, I am not so flippy." She said with a nod as she withdrew her hand, placing her fists on her hips as they conversed. "I like all that flashy high flying stuff though if I am a lame duck on the ropes. I don't think I could get that much spin even if I tried… I actually had a nasty piece of work in my match too. A real mean girl… her boyfriend hit me with a metal stick… super rude." Leah ran a hand through her hair, bringing her palm down to rest on her collar and massage it lightly.

There was a visible perk in her expression when Edward continued on confidently, her smile turning into a grin. She looked like an excited little kid who just strolled into a candy shop. She stepped in closer to Edward, giving him an adorable starry eyed look at the mention of him having SECRET moves that he might use on her. That sounded awesome! "Well, you better bust out your biggest and best stuff, cause I intend to get that belt at the end of all of this. No more coming short for me, buster." Leah jabbed lightly at his chest with a finger.

"Yeah, Ryo is...quite a character. He was fine after the match. He's still riding high on being the only person to officially pin Dasher. I think the only thing he was unhappy about after that match, aside from losing, was that he couldn't get you to do a hentai match with him after." Edward said with a snicker, starting to become a little more relaxed after the initial surprise of Leah popping up near him.

He listened as she talked about her style and her previous opponent, able to sympathize with her frustration of a cheating opponent. Once he started boasting about his "Secret moves" however, the cute girls eyes lit up, stepping closer to him, looking outright adorable as she practically went squee over the taunt, poking him the chest and making her intention to claim the new title clear.

Funny enough, rather than make him blush as such contact usually would, Edward actually found the charming display from Leah rather...exciting. Her sheer enthusiasm was infectious, and soon Edward had a grin on his own on his face, the blonde scotsman playfully flicking away the finger on his chest. "Heh, I like your spunk lass, but I've had enough losses to cute girls for a while, and I won't be distracted by nice legs or a cute butt this time."

He reached out, making a fist and holding it halfway between their bodies, offering her a fist bump.

"You seem like a really cool person. I think I'm going to really enjoy wrestling you. Let's give our best and give them a match to remember, sound good?"

The blond did blink at the mention of Ryo attempting to get her into hentai matches after the Elimination Chamber match. Somewhere in the back of her mind, some repressed tweets drifted as she looked on with vacant eyes, not recalling that part about the other wrestler. Had she forgotten or simply blocked it out of her mind? She wasn't sure. Real wrestling talk had snapped her out of the daze, however.

Leah took back her finger as it was brushed away, making a cute "oh" surprised face at Edward's sudden swell in confidence. She couldn't help but smile as he spoke, giggling at the end.  "Well, when you lose to me it won't be because of my legs being nice and smooth or my backside is… whatever good looking butts are. It'll be because I wrestle the absolute heck outta'ya."

Without any hesitation, Leah's knuckles were lightly tapped to Edward's. She pulled back her fist right after, spreading her fingers and wiggling them about while making a soft explosion sound to accompany it. The complement of being cool seemed to land pretty well, getting another one of her bright beaming smiles that lit up the hallway. "You better believe it! Man, I am so pumped! I can't wait… but I have to. Uuuurgh! ...Alright, I should get going though. I just wanted to make sure to catch you before you left."

Leah backed herself away, gesturing finger guns at Edward. Leaving a conversation was always so much harder than starting one. It was only after she bumped into a wall abruptly and visibly started herself that she finally turned around to head off entirely, moving at a slight jog. "C'ya in the ring!" She called back from afar, waving a hand over her shoulder before disappearing around a corner. She had a long jog back home ahead of her.

That...was a pretty awesome experience actually. For once, Edward didn't back down in front of a cute girl, and seemed to make a new...well, "friend" was pushing it, but at least he was going into a match with someone he was on good terms with for once. The girls energy was infectious, and somehow Edward felt more confident now than he had even after winning his match.

After the fist bump, Edward waved farewell as the cute Leah bumped into a wall and moved to leave, turning around himself to head out.

A good victory, a potential new friend, and an exciting upcoming match to tell Ryo about. All in all, not a bad day.

...Plus, Leah's legs and butt were awesome, which is something else he'd tell Ryo about.