smoother standings

Adrian Kytes stood nervously outside the gilded door to Eclipse's private locker room. Last time she was here it started a series of unfortunate events, a few matches and now it was time to bury what was left of the hatched between the cosplayer and the idols. Still, it was a bit intimidating.

"It's just a door." Rebecca Tomoko, her best friend said behind Kytes. The amazon also here to try and help things along, she didn't have the best of histories with Eclipse either: her last encounter involved her taking a can of pepper spray in the eyes, but she could at least try.

"I know it's a door!" Adrian said, slightly stressed out, remembering how last time went.

"Come on, what's the worst that could happen?" She asked, stepping past and opening the door.

"Nooooooooo!"

When Rebecca opened the door, she would be greeted with an interesting sight. Unlike last time, the idols were not undressing to change into costume thankfully. Rather the room was dark and full of incense smoke. There was some soft faint piano music playing over the sound of falling water. Two of the idols were present, Chigusa and Megumi. The both of them were sitting cross-legged in lotus position on yoga mats, eyes closed and hands on their knees as if meditating.

The two idols had gone through some intensive training recently in order to get back into competitive shape. They hadn't had the best of luck with matches since their small hiatus, and things were only recently improving for both of them following their new and very strict regimen. This was part of it, a relaxation and meditation session following a long and rough workout. Normally disturbming them in the middle of this was the worst, but luckily for Rebecca she chose to burst in right at the end.

The music winded down and the sound playing from the laptop speakers slowly faded. Chigusa and Megumi both took a deep breath at the same time, putting their hands together in front of them and bowing their heads for a short moment. It was quite a strange sight, but given AFW's odd assortment of characters this probably was perfectly normal.

Chigusa turned her head and looked up at Rebecca, and then back to look at Adrian. "Ah- we have company," Chigusa said. She quickly got up and grabbed Rebecca's hand. "So sorry we didn't notice you two earlier. We were kinda in the zone," she said, smiling as she pulled Rebecca into the room. "Come in Adrian-san, Rebecca-san."

Adrian winced as Rebecca opened the door un-anounced, fearing the barrage of screams and various thrown items that they'd get this time. But was instead greeted by the scent of incense and peaceful music. "Huh?" She let out, poking her head around the door frame while the Amazon walked in. This was...different. Even from what she'd seen, she did not expect to walk in on someone's meditation. "It's okay! Sorry for interrupting 'zone-time' and stuff." The cosplayer said with a nervous laugh before stepping into the room proper.

"Thanks," Rebecca said as she was pulled in, so far so good. "So is this a regular thing for you two?"

"It's becoming one," Megumi said. She stretched out a bit before slowly standing back up. "We might make it part of the training, if we can keep on finding time for it." She walked over to Adrian, almost sizing her up with her gaze, before leading her inside as well and closing the door. Chigusa rolled up the mats and stuffed them in one of the closets before pulling the coffee table back into place in front of the couches.

"Sit down you two!" she said, "I'll get something to drink." She went over to a small mini fridge, grabbing four bottles of soda, and came back, putting one down on the table for each of them, before sitting down next to Megumi.

"So, what's going on?" Megumi asked, "You don't usually drop by Adrian.This isn't about some interview, is it?"

Adrian tried not to meet Megumi sizing her up in kind, she knew that Megumi Mutoh was the only member of Eclipse she hadn't faced, and she was suppossed to be the toughest out of the three, not to mention her wrestling heratige Do the Muto's have copyright over the poison mist? she wondered, before shaking her head and sitting formally down at the table "Uh- thanks!" The cosplayer said with a quick smile. "Wasn't really expecting this."

"We just wanted to pretty much say hi." Rebecca said, spreading herself out on the couch "Kinda got off on the bad foot with the matches and... whatever happened to you before then."

"Didn't mean to walk in on you half naked..." Adrian said quietly.

"So we thought maybe this time we could actually try and be friends this time, forget all the past stuff happened."

"Oh don't worry about that! We aren't the type to hold grudges," Chigusa said, "What happened before... was a bit of a surprise. But it didn't do any harm or anything. We aren't going to blame you for doing something as insignificant as that. And as for the matches... well that's mostly in ring stuff too. It's not like anyone really got hurt." She sat back and took a drink, thinking back to her match with Adrian and unconsciously touching her stomach for a second, remembering how Adrian stomped her to finish the match. "You really are a tough one though Adrian. It's like we just can't beat you!"

"Only because she's a dirty cheater," Megumi said under her breath. Chigusa elbowed her to shut her up. Megumi wasn't happy to see Adrian or Rebecca. She disliked the fact that Adrian was so rude that she didn't even bother to knock before coming in, which has happened twice now. She didn't like how Adrian always won through underhanded means, whether it was blatantly cheating or just being a jackass in the ring, and she particularly didn't like how Chigusa and Tomomi seemed to forgive the girl after all that had happened. It hurt her pride.

"Anyways, if you two are here to bury any bad feelings between us, rest assured there are none," Chigusa said, "We're glad you feel the same way, and I'm happy to consider the both of you my friends!"

"I'm not," Megumi said again, this time slightly louder but still rather quietly. Chigusa elbowed her once more, trying her best to maintain composure and not strangle her friend. Megumi could be unhappy about this all she wants, but Chigusa was determined to end any possible feud between them, especially before anyone got really hurt.

Adrian breathed a sigh of relief as Chigusa seemed to be completely fine with the cosplayer and the Amazon, despite being the one who probably suffered the worst at her hands, either directly or indirectly. "Yeah! I know I cheat a lot but I try to base my style on more what gets me wins instead of just hurting someone else. And you almost had me a couple of times! So did Tomomi... I got really lucky that time, maybe next time one of us fights it won't have a stupid stip like a 5 count schoolgirl pin..." the cosplayer rambled trying to break the ice, kind of ignoring Megumi. "But yeah! If you've got some time in your schedule maybe we could... y'know: do something, maybe help with each others training, down time: something like that."

Rebecca however did not let Megumi's comments go un-noticed and kept a firm gaze on her, even when elbowed by her friend to knock it off, Adrian was happy to let the red-head's comments slide so easily. "Really?" She asked when Chigusa said she'd be happy to consider them friends, but more to the Crimson Warrior.

"I certainly hope so," Chigusa said, "The Avalanche match was mostly for fun anyways, so don't think we're all so kinky that we like doing doing that. Believe me, Tomomi was so embarrassed when they told her she had to wear that thong, her face would have lit up a dark room."

"If you want a spar sometime, or just regular training in general, don't hesitate to ask," Chigusa continued, "I mean, we might not be able to do it, but we can check our schedules and stuff, figure something out..."

Megumi saw the way Rebecca was looking at her, and she didn't like it. She especially didn't like how Adrian had someone like her for a friend, someone to intimidate her opponents for her so she could get away with messing around. Megumi wasn't afraid of her though.

"Yes Rebecca, believe me, I would like you two to be friends," Megumi said, "I'd hate to be bad-mouthed on TV after all. It's childish and juvenile, yes, but quite shockingly effective at getting people turned against someone you don't like. Isn't that right Adrian?" Chigusa smile faltered. She elbowed Megumi's side again, but this time she shifted forward, making her miss, before leaning back and pinning her arm in place. Megumi shot a glance at Chigusa out of the corner of her eye, showing her displeasure. Chigusa glared silently at Megumi, fuming at her friend's behavior.

"Kinda sucked though that we got the jokey match, while everyone else got stuff like ladder matches and hell in a cell... we got stuck doing the 'fun one'. I'm not knocking it or saying it was a bad match but I think we could have both been better off with something more serious. One that didn't turn our faces red would have been great." Adrian whined a bit "But yeah! Sounds fun, maybe I'll check mine as well so we can sort something out.

"Uh..." Adrian faltered when Megumi spoke up and cut straight into her antics. She didn't think she'd done that bad of a job "Well...um... it would kind of suck, it depends who's doing it really." the cosplayer said biting her lip. The whole point of those promos was to bring a bit of attention to the matches, she was just doing what she normally did: get people to pay to see her get punched. Trashing a popular Idol group when her world was held in as high regard as a homeless person's should have been fairly harmless to their image.

"It would also suck if you let a bit of trash talking get to you. Right Megumi? Considering it's one of the main things that happens in a professional wrestling orginization." Rebecca asked back. Alarm bells ringing in Adrian's head. Revving back an easily visable elbow to the Amazon's side, just so she'd feel it, but it seems that the redhead and the dark giantess were on a path heading straight towards each other. With Chigusa and Adrian stuck trying to prevent the inevitable crash.

"Oh it's not that I don't have a thick enough skin to be hurt by those things Rebecca. It's more that I believe you don't need to bad moutj your opponents to get a good fight. If you're skilled and you can entertain, the crowd will naturally be interested." Megumi said. Her target wasn't Rebecca, whose interference was getting rather annoying. She wanted Adrian to know just how much she disdained the cosplaying cheater.

Chigusa was trying to hold Megumi back, but she was getting all fired up now, and was getting far too excited to back down. "You can cover for Adrian all you want Rebecca. As a friend, you should. But don't think just because Chigusa and Tomomi are willing to forgive and forget that I am. You've made a fool of us several times now Adrian. There will be consqeuences for it."

"Megumi! Stop it, just stop!" Chigusa said, "Don't be like this, you promised!"

But Megumi was intent on speaking her mind. She wasn't going to back down, especially not now. Her pride was on the line.