Slumber Party Panic!

Cassie rushed around her new apartment, preparing it for her visitor. She had already tidied up several times over, which was a feat in itself because of how messy Taylor was. They had hardly moved in their stuff and Taylor had already made a mess of everything, though she insisted that she wasn't messy at all. Cassie only pointed out the mess, the crushing everywhereness of the mess, and Taylor just made a noise and did something else. It was tricky, learning to live with someone. She'd only just got used to the Finns. She wondered how they were doing...

She didn't have time to worry about her old roommates! Talia would be there any minute, and she still had so much to do!

"Um..." She said, and put a finger to her mouth. What was she doing? She'd cleaned up, filled the fridge with groceries and had found the numbers of various takeout places in the area just in case. She had piled up blankets and pillows in the living room next to the couch, across from the TV. She'd even put on makeup, but she had no idea why. Maybe she thought Talia would think she was lame if she didn't. Talia was probably really stylish.

Cassie looked down at her pink t-shirt with a big white daisy on the front. She had to change. She rushed off to her bedroom and began rifling through her clothes.

Talia lifted up her fist to knock on the door but stopped herself at the last second. "Mmm..." she mumbled nervously. Despite Cass's insistence on the matter, the girl was still unsure whether or not expect Taylor at the place. She had waited five minutes, as if hoping it would give her some sign that Taylor wasn't there but she really couldn't hear any voices over all the moving around behind the door. She looked down at herself and sighed. For a slumber party she had worn a purple tanktop with a knee-high red pleated skirt. She had worn her usual makeup, not wanting to disappoint Cass by looking too casual. But only know she realized that she had dressed for a picnic instead. It was too late to worry about that though, she was already here!

In her hand was a bag with some chocolate chip cookies and brownies, among other goodies from America that she hadn't enjoyed in awhile. She wasn't sure what Cass liked and missed so she also brought some vegetables and raw meats. Even so, she tapped her foot nervously since this had the risk of Taylor walking in on them. Or even worse, joining them. Talia still couldn't get over how upset she was at herself for what happened between them. Even thinking that maybe Taylor had gotten over it didn't really help. There would always be that awkwardness. Talia took a deep breath and knocked on the door. "No point in fretting about it now..." she muttered before suddenly smiling so Cass wouldn't notice the look on her face.

Through the door there was a high pitched squeak and a dull thud as inside Cassie tripped over her laundry pile and nearly face-planted on the hardwood floor. She scrambled up to her feet and restarted her excited dash to the door.

She stopped before opening it and took a deep breath. She looked down at herself, and realized that she'd managed to replace her pink white-daisy shirt with an identical yellow shirt with a green daisy on the front. She remembered buying that shirt in a few colors, and slapped her palm against her forehead. Well, too late now.

She opened the door with a bright-eyed smile. "Hi!" She said. "Come in, come in!"

It took her a moment to realize she was still standing in front of the door. She stepped aside and gestured Talia inside. "How are you? What did you bring? Ooh, this is cute, I love the color." She said, brushing her fingers against Talia's tanktop.

She shifted in place for a suddenly uncomfortable moment, the time in between the introductory bluster and the first distraction. "Purple." She said.

As the door opened, Talia hesitated at first, unsure of what to say. When Cass smiled and said Hi first, Talia repeated "Hi," right back to her like a clone. Luckily, Cass quickly followed up by gesturing her in. Talia took a step closer to Cass, only to realize she didn't move immediately and awkwardly looked at her up close. "Oh...sorry..." she apologized a little embarrassed. "I'm good though! How are you?" Talia asked back as she lifted up her bag. "I've got cookies! And brownies!"

Talia noticed Cass's shirt and then her notice of her own shirt. "Thank you, I like this outfit..." she trailed off as she saw Cass shift uncomfortably. In her attempt to not disappoint Cassie she had overdressed! "I'm sorry...I...I can change if you want. I...I didn't know how casual it was so I wore this...and then I..." she realized then that she actually couldn't change if Cassie wanted her to unless she borrowed some clothes. "I'm sorry..." she repeated as she looked down to the ground, holding the bag in front of her with both hands in a pout.

For a moment, Cassie was confused and bewildered and a little uncomfortable. She wondered if maybe she did something wrong and now Talia was feeling... something? She didn't know, but it seemed a lot like something was wrong.

She did the only thing she could think of. She totally ignored Talia's offer to go change, and gave her a big hug. "Brownies and cookies? Awesome! Put your stuff down anywhere and just come in!" She grabbed hold of Talia's wrist and led her off to the living room, which was more spacious than her old one and even had a decent view out the large windows that covered the outside wall. She pushed Talia toward a comfortably upholstered chair and leapt onto the couch.

"I was just watching Tomomi and Chigusa from when they were in Wrestle Angels. Have you seen their matches? They're the best." She realized she left Megumi out of the list, but she was sure it wasn't sour grapes. She grabbed a remote and pressed play, and a match resumed between Chigusa Yuuki and Macky Ueto.

"So how are you settling in? Are you officially in Friction yet?"

Talia felt Cassie hug her and though she didn't directly hug her back since her hands were occupied, it did make her feel much more comfortable. Just like that, the awkwardness was all but removed. She had a smile on her face when Cassie then pulled her away and to the living room. She fell into a chair as directed by her host and immediately noticed the television on. With a quick look at it, she nodded as she realized that of course it was going to have wrestling on. Her eyes drifted to the rest of the room and took great notice of the view outside the windows. It was so much better than her apartment's view which consisted of two stained windows that had a great vantage point of the neighboring building's brick wall. Talia frowned slightly out of a little envy, but turned her attention back to the television.

She recognized Chigusa on the television. "Yea! I love Tomomi and Chigusa." There were others from Wrestle Angels that she remembered but she didn't bring any of them up. One of them was Megumi. After their last meeting, Talia had looked up what Cassie's last match was. The ten second bout must have been humiliating for her, so it made sense why she didn't want to talk about it then, and probably now as well. So that's exactly what Talia did, not bring it up. She chose to answer the girl's question instead. "I...umm...I may be wrestling for both brands for awhile. I signed with Friction a week ago but...I kinda can't leave my contract with Tension just yet...or else they'll fine me. So...I'm kinda hovering between the two for a few more months."

Before she really had a chance to reply, Talia reached into her bag and pulled out her Tupperware of cookies and opened it. She offered the box to Cassie.

"Cookie?" " title="cookie" />

"Oh." Cassie said. "That must be tough."

Her eyes lit up at the sight of the cookies. That was one thing she missed, not living with Sin and the Finns anymore. There were always sweets around with Sin, but not with Taylor. She didn't like having them in the house. Cassie knew that Taylor ate sweets, but she didn't know when it happened. She never saw her do it, she just knew she did. She knew it. She tried not to be too eager when she snagged a cookie from the container.

She tucked her feet up on the couch on front of her which brought her knees up to her chest and held the cookie with both hands while she took a small bite. Her eyes drifted back to the TV while she chewed.

"Chigusa's really great. They all are. I beat Hitomi Fujishima in my first match, and her manager took me on. The same guy that manages Eclipse. But... he didn't really have much time for me, and then Mamouru managed me for a bit and now... But they're really great, they're so nice." Honestly, Cassie felt more tolerated than actually welcome with them, though she'd never say that out loud. She didn't think any of them actually respected her, despite her grappling abilities. She didn't think they respected her as a fighter. Maybe she was just crazy, but after the match with Megumi, how could she blame them?

She took another bite of the cookie, then she brightened up again. "Do you have any good matches we could watch?" She asked. Her eyes drifted over to the door for a second, as if she was suddenly worried that Taylor would walk in. Not that she didn't want her to, but she was worried that things might be unpleasant. "We should figure out dinner before we spoil our appetites."

Talia smiled when Cass seemed to happily take a cookie. She had baked them herself, unable to find any decent cookies in the area. The way Cass curled up onto the couch as she ate made Talia feel so much better about herself. The girl was innocently adorable and she felt like she had met someone who was similar enough to truly become friends with her. But the smile suddenly faded when Cass asked if Talia had any good matches. It made her feel unaccomplished and uncomfortable all of a sudden. Not wanting to destroy the space-time continuum, Talia quietly shook her head.

When she noticed Cass look at the door, she instinctively did so as well. She always feared Taylor would walk in at any moment, making things awkward for everyone. But for now, she was spared the feeling. "I brought some chicken breasts, we can cook up something healthy!" she said excitedly as she brought her stuff over to the kitchen. She reached into the bag and pulled out a couple packs of packaged chicken. "You probably don't have a grill...but we can probably just use a pan or something..." Talia trailed off as she looked around the kitchen. She wasn't familiar with kitchens that weren't organized like her own and stared blankly at the cabinets.

"Okay!" Cassie rushed into the kitchen and began pulling out everything she could find that they might use from the cabinets. While Talia cooked, she mostly watched, fascinated by the process. She wasn't much use in the kitchen herself, but she loved to watch Sininen work and she watched Talia as intently, quiet except for the occasional question.

"Oh! I have an idea! I'll be over here." She suddenly exclaimed, and scampered off to her computer in the living room. She sat on her chair with her knees at her chest and was glued to her computer screen, and soon the printer began whirring and spitting out paper.

"I have a project for us while we eat!" She said.

Mamouru had decided that he needed to pay a visit to Taylor Parker's Aapartment. Johnny, Taylor's boyfriend had just been invited to Tension Hotel. It was a PPV that he thought would really help boost his career in Tension. After going through a lot recently, and with his last encounter with Taylor, Johnny thought that this would give her the perfect opportunity to have the space she demanded of him. Then, when it was all over, he would come back to her with the total victory and prove his love to her.

Mamouru was quite pleased with Johnny's initiative, however, he still wasn't sure how things were going on Taylor's end. The girl had a lot going on and it seemed like she was still figuring out her feelings for Johnny or, at least, how to deal with them. Mamouru knew he had to try and get the two back together and figured that he could tell Taylor about Tension Hotel. That way she could watch it for herself and witness Johnny's dedication to her.

He approached the apartment door and gave it a gentle knock. Her touched the doorhandle just out of habit and it seemed to be open. Mamouru smirked. Taylor would probably have a cow if he just walked in, but Mamouru shrugged th thought off. It wouldn't be the first time and he wasn't just going to stand out here all night. What if she was in the shower? He'd be out forever. He grinned. What if she were in the shower? He rolled his eyes at the possibility of such an occurance and how unlikely it was.

He stepped into the apartment and looked around. "Taylor-chan, I hope you don't..." Mamouru stopped. In the living room, instead of Taylor, he found a complete stranger. She seemed familiar, but he couldn't really place her. Mamouru took a step back and bowed before speaking.

"Excuse me, this is Taylor Parker's apartment, right?" He said, portraying himself as someone who had chosen the wrong apartment even though he was sure that it was hers.