SRW: Warning from the Warden

"I told ya you'd be fine baby!"

That distinctively nasal cackle of a certain silver-tongued and silver-skinned valet echoed off the walls of the locker room, followed by the subtle smack of his hand patting his chosen warrior's broad shoulder. The duo of Hera and Hermes had finally gotten spot of rest after the former's fierce battle with the mysterious Gem Queen. And while she'll be feeling the aftermath of the fight for several nights to come, Hera came out victorious.

"Didn't doubt for a second you'd get your hand raised," Hermes assured as he firmly pressed an ice pack to the base of Hera's neck. "That Queen looked like a little lump o' clay in your hands, hahaaah!"

"Hermes..." Hera let out a tired chuckle, shaking her head as she sat on a bench, softly panting as she lets her aching, glistening body rest. "I appreciate the encouragement, but don't discredit the Queen like that. She kicked my ass just as hard."

"Yeah but she ain't the one who won, now is she?" Hermes chuckled, reaching down with a free hand to grab a towel from Hera's bag. "This is a big deal Hera- We should celebrate! Get some dinner, get wasted, maybe go get you a massage- I know a place, you're gonna love it..."

The joyful duo were both getting some well earned rest after the long and frightfully painful fight the two had to endure. Hera had put her body on the line while Hermes had seen a friend in dire circumstances. An emotional and physical roller coaster that ended with a well earned victory for the both of them! They had every right to celebrate, and as Hermes reached deep into his friend's duffle bag and quickly found the soft towel he was searching for. With excitement, Hermes would easily tug the towel loose, only to quickly realize his hand was gripping something else along with it. A shadow was suddenly cast over him as he realized a hand was beneath that towel!

“Ta-da!”

Right there, feet still inside of Hera’s duffle bag, was Eros Zuul. Like a magician, she seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere! Like a showman, she seemed to encapsulate Hermes' attention with her golden gaze and cheerful smile. However, the Head Warden would hop out of Hera’s bag without explaining her trick and instead give them a round of golf claps. The gentle sound filling up the room in mock appreciation of the duo’s victory.

“Congratulations, you two! I wasn’t sure you would be able to pull it off. But here you are, still in one piece.” Eros’s eyes flicked towards Hermes before smirking, “More or less~”

"GAH--!" Hermes nearly hopped right out of his skin by the sudden appearance, flinging the towel away and raising his hands as he crashed into the lockers with a metallic THUNK! Hera glanced over her shoulder at the sudden commotion- And locking eyes with the Head Warden herself, flinching slightly. Well this was a surprise.

"... Thank you..." Hera finally spoke up a bit unsure, her brow stitched in confusion- Mostly wondering how the hell she managed to perform that little trick, but also not wanting to do anything to upset her superior.

"Hooh... Would it kill you to knock?!" Hermes meanwhile was just annoyed by the scare, running a hand through his jet black hair as he sighs. "Too young for a heart attack..."

Eros snickered, adoring the differences between the two pals in front of her. They were really like opposite sides of a coin, and yet they somehow worked well enough together not to tear each other apart. It was almost fun to watch, if Eros didn’t have her own duties to fulfill. Hermes’s grumbling echoed in the locker room as the bakeneko slipped her hands behind her back. Hera’s seated form sat watching Eros suspiciously as the Warden approached, and yet the bakeneko approached the gladiator with ease. Even going so far as to tease her a bit with a smile.

“Hermes, don’t tell me my little trick shocked you more than Hera’s stunt in the ring~” The Warden said, leaning towards the gladiator’s intense gaze. “The way she broke Gem’s back like that in front of everyone~ Even Hera couldn’t believe what she had done, standing over Gem Queen with that shocked expression! She even tripped herself up a bit, didn’t you Hera?”

That sly smirk might have been cute to anyone who didn’t know better. But Eros’s pupils were narrowed in predatory gaze, making the happy expressions seem less friendly and more antagonistic. But rather than linger in Hera’s face, Eros would instead turn towards Hermes, the nervous young manager still brushing his hair with his fingers.

“Of course, we can’t really blame her for that…but I’m conflicted, Hermes. Because I wanted someone who would actually scare Gem Queen, not just keep her entertained for a match and leave like the bestest of friends! Gem isn’t scared…if anything she’s excited! A cute little challenge that really only motivates her to continue breaking my fighters and threaten the integrity of the SRW.”

Eros’s footsteps were like the gentle clicks of a clock. They were constant, measured, and ever present as the Head Warden came closer towards Hermes with every passing second. Every step cast had Eros come closer and closer to Hermes, a shadow steadily enveloping him until the two were practically face to face. The air chilling considerably as the cold atmosphere that seemed to shroud the Head Warden began nipping right through Hermes clothes and chilling his grey skin beneath.

“And to really drive the nail in…the only one that looked scared during that fight was your gladiator, Hermes~ So, the way I see things, you’ve given my part of what I asked for, but not what I wanted.”

Hera firmly maintained a frown as Eros recalled the ending to her match, for a fair number of reasons. The sound of the Gem Queen's spine cracking against her knee was enough to make her eyes twitch faintly. She's never going to get that out of her head... But that wasn't all that had her on edge. Hera may value strength over all else, but that hardly means she's stupid- She could tell even with that damned grin on her face, Eros wasn't happy. Those eyes said it all... All she could do was steel herself for the other shoe to drop.

Hermes, ever the shrewd little snake, could see it as well- He did his best to stay cool and collected, yet he refused to take his eyes away from the Head Warden, having to remind himself to even blink periodically. As the little bakeneko started to step closer, his fingers slowly stopped tending to his hair... And right as she got a bit too far into his comfort zone, he held his hands in front of his chest in defense, instinctively taking a step back. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end- Whether out of fear or the sudden cold enveloping him, he couldn't tell. He took a breath and gave the sternest scowl he could to Eros- Hopefully he's not shivering too bad, that'd kind of undermine his faux confidence...

"Hey hey, we did what you asked of us! It ain't our fault that Queenie chick is a little freak- How were we supposed to know she was into getting her back broken?"

As much as Hermes might have tried, even his most stern scowl only seemed to bounce off of the Head Warden as she approached him. Getting so close in fact that she almost had him pinned up against the wall, with Hermes making it clear he was getting defensive by walling himself up behind his hands. But Eros would make it clear that being the head of security not just in the SRW, but of the town of Tsubar, had its perks as she stopped just an inch away from Hermes. His golden eyes were filled to the brim with nerves and slimy intent. He was the exact type of person Eros despised the most, and she took a certain pleasure in making him squirm. While she was a servant to the Overseer and his people, she was still a Yokai. Mischief and calamity was in her nature, and small moments like these were fun ways for her to vent. And here in the silent, isolated locker room there were no eyes or ears watching them that Eros could not control. So she let Hermes bark and push back on her while constantly using plural words like “us” and “we”. Words that made Eros’s ears flick in annoyance.

“Yes, how could you know? If only you had been warned that Hera’s opponent for the evening was a dangerous individual who enjoyed breaking their opponents and had an incredibly twisted personality! If only Gem Queen had walked in and showed off a self mutilating tiara that grossed everyone out. And if only Hera had someone to look out for her and do a little bit of their own research behind the scenes rather that try and scrub as much money as he can from illegal combat gambles and fraud~ How could you know? After all, Y’know how these wrestling types are…Gotta big up there guys no matter what…Kayfabe and all that.”

Eros threw Hermes’ own words back at him, letting his own arrogance come back up to bite him in the rear as his failures as a manager were pulled back and revealed like bugs under a carpet. The Head Warden knew more about Hermes than she cared to, thanks to all of the financial reports on her desk. But even if she didn’t, she could tell the kind of manager he was. The equivalent of a snake oil salesman swirled with a hype man. A scavenger helping a predator, like a Honeyguide or a Remora fish…and just as small.

“But Hera did what I asked, even if it didn’t turn out the way I desired. And I will keep my word. A deal is a deal, after all.”

Eros would finally turn away from Hermes, her face practically beaming with joy as she faced Hera. The chilled atmosphere never reached the gladiator, not even when Eros walked right up to her and smiled playfully at the seated titan. A total tone shift from before, but a fighter like Hera would have the instincts to know that Eros probably wasn’t finished with the two of them.

“That is, if Hera is still willing to accept my help~”

"How the hell did you--...?" Hermes' eyes narrowed for a moment as he recalled the words he told Hera before the match- In what he thought was a moment of privacy. Realization struck... And he slowly shut his eyes and released a silent, irritated sigh, mouthing a swear to himself. Of course, on top of striking fear into his heart with a glance and having a seemingly endless number of connections, she also has to be practically omnipotent. That's just greaaaat for him...

Meanwhile, Hera sat still and watched on as Eros berated her friend- Almost immediately her old habit of grazing her lip with her sharp teeth flared up. Eros was probably aware of that being a tic of Hera's when she's annoyed, and gods above was she ever- She despised being lorded over by this little runt, wanting nothing more than to jump up and decapitate her with a vicious lariat, and go off to the massage parlor that Hermes mentioned...

But she's smarter than that. Eros is the proverbial queen around here for a reason- And no matter how powerful a gladiator is, they know their place underneath their ruler.

"... Well it'd be foolish of us not to, now wouldn't it?"

Sometimes, the best way to deal with someone who thought they were smarter than everyone else was to simply prove them wrong. Eros had plenty of connections and worked for the most powerful being in all of Gaia. Her eyes and ears were everywhere, and as the head of security her reach was further reaching than almost anyone in the realm. Going head to head with Eros was like running head first into a steel wall. And with all of the rumors about the Head Warden’s past, she was unfortunately a ruthless wildcard that few could predict. The crafty manager had the powerful gladiator on his side, but Eros was essentially the Overseer’s gladiator, and he was smart enough to understand that much. Eros knew that Hermes was clever. He managed to get much further than many of the skulking fraudsters that frequent the dusty bars and stuffy backrooms of Tsubar, and in a twisted way she could commend him for his efforts. But aside from that and his choice of pet, there were not many positive things she could say about him.

And as Eros’s golden eyes looked up and down Hera’s stern expression, she saw that rebellious spark in her eyes that Hermes seemed to help fan ever so gently every day. From her first appearance onward, Hera’s boisterous personality and strength seemed more and more focused in every passing battle. Hera was growing exponentially, but with Hermes being the lens, Hera’s focus could go anywhere! The gladiator had charisma and was certainly interesting to watch. But that rebellious flame caught Eros’s eye early on. And truthfully, it was something she knew she would have to watch out for.

Hera knew she was being read, that the Warden likely knew her tics and habits but didn’t care to hide them. But…she didn’t get physical. Despite the three of them being alone, Hera held back her clear desire to settle things right there with Eros, content with the knowledge that the Head Warden was getting her message of disdain loud and clear as she muttered in agreement with her.

“Foolish or not, it's your choice Hera.” Eros smiled cheerfully, dismissing Hera’s evil eye. “But this is a one way sort of deal…Once I put you up, there's no safety net if you come toppling down. I’ll do my best to help, of course. Guide you along and get you what you need, but it's ultimately up to you…and only you~” Eros purred.

The Warden wasn’t lying. Eros followed through on her promises if she made them. All Hera had to do was say “Yes”! But it was those last two words that hung in the air…those last two important words that would go over most people's heads as Eros filled their heads with distracting thoughts of the future. What did she mean by them? And why did she seem so happy after saying it?

"I don't suppose I could ask what this deal could be?" Hera inquired, the careful trepidation palpable in her voice as her brow stitched. Of course she caught those last two words- But she wasn't certain what exactly they entailed. She had an idea- It's not like Eros hadn't made her... distaste of Hermes subtle. But did she truly want Hera to cut him out entirely, or just take more charge in their partnership...?

Growing a bit restless by the tension in the room, Hera decided to stand from the bench- Grimacing slightly with a grunt as she heaves her sore body up. Once on her feet, she turns back to the Head Warden and places her hands on her hips, tilting her head down to look Eros in the eye. If this was an attempt to intimidate her superior, it wasn't a concious one- Or at least, not one Hera expected to be successful. She simply stayed still and paid close attention, panting through her nostrils as sweat continues to trickle down her face.

Hera’s question bounced off of Eros as easily as any other. Without even flinching the Head Warden nodded and gave a cheerful “Of course!” as Hera began to stand up. Eros looked into Hera’s eyes to make sure she wasn’t trying to intimidate her, but quickly dismissed the idea as the Gladiator seemed genuinely curious. Hermes was just a few feet away, but whether he heard the Warden or not, it didn’t really matter. Eros took only a second to recall what exactly it was that she promised Hera, and quickly recited it with a smile.

“The deal was that if you were to emerge victorious, I would help you get exposure as well as help you get closer to your ultimate goal of perfecting your craft. I promised everyone in Gaia would know your name. And to be crystal clear, the goal I believe you were looking to perfect was your wrestling endeavors. Facing skilled opponents, practicing new techniques, proper training equipment…things of that nature.”

To show Eros’s commitment, she even performed a Warden’s salute. An important gesture towards Wardens that was the equivalent of staking their honor onto the task.

“Like I said, if you accept the deal I will do my very best to help you achieve your desires, and I will get you that which I have already mentioned. Fame, opponents, glory. Everything a gladiator wants. And I’ll make it look easy~”

Eros would keep her smile, but suddenly grow silent. She had given Hera the clues to put the pieces together. Now it was time to see if Hera actually could! Perhaps Hermes might, but if he truly cared for Hera he would let her decide for herself. Eros was more than happy to simply sit back and watch, happy with however it things turned out.