Bury the hatchet, bring out the knives

"Yeahhhhh..." Adrian said nervously, it seemed it was only her that held any animosity left between the two if Taylor had really calmed down, and then it was just mainly annoyance that she just up and left so quickly, couldn't she have spent just a second flipping her off before she left? it would have felt a little better. "Well then, it'd be great to make a fresh start that doesn't just go downhill really really quickly. I'm not expecting to be best buddies but kind of, someone I can be cool with." The cosplayer tried to say. "We just clashed, bad intro and then it all kinda spiraled." She said before leaning in.

"Akashi isn't here is she? Because I kind of want to keep this whole thing between you me and Taylor and I really don't want to see Akashi around... It'd just make things awkward." She whispered nervously, remembering who's house Cassie shared this with, it explained the traditional Japanese stuff and the Sumo was the last person she wanted to see right now. Well... bottom 5.

"No, she's out. Somewhere. Why would that be awkward?" Cassie didn't get it. She probably should've, given her level of familiarity with Akashi. And with Adrian.

She took a long drink of carrot juice until her the back pressure of her excitement was too great and she grinned and raised her hands, and the glass, to the ceiling.

"You're gonna be best buds!" She exclaimed, completely ignoring the "not expecting" part. "Sure, you got off to a rocky start, but that's okay. Has that really been bothering you? Taylor never talked much about it, but she doesn't really ever talk about wrestling people when she doesn't have to. Pretty much just in training, like 'if I was fighting Adrian, I'd get in her face and bully her around, ya know. Keep it physical and keep it tight so she can't get away with her nonsense'." She said, imitating Taylor's looser, edgier, New York-rhythmic voice. It was pretty spot on.

She laughed, and she even had Taylor's hilarious, utterly infectious laugh down well enough. "Not for nothin', man, but you never call, ya know? Just gimme a call sometime, a'right?" She giggled. "A'right? Ya know? Dude. Dude, man."

"Oh god it's gonna be the attack of the New Yawk Accents all over again! Thought I got enough of that touring the northeast." Adrian chuckled, going all melodramatic for her declaration. "Okay, okay. So how are we gonna do this... is there gonna be like a neutral ground, cause she kind of lives in Kyoto apparently which is kinda annoying 'cause I'd have to travel all that way if I just wanted to train which is kinda-" Her hand quickly clasped over her mouth when she realized what she had said, the cat was out of the bag and Cassie knew what she was really looking for out of this.

Cassie's eyes got big and an impish, awestruck look came over her face. For a moment she didn't say anything. Then she carefully placed her glass on the floor. She burst into a spontaneous victory boogie that was over as suddenly as it had begun.

She picked up her juice again and tried to be cool about it. "You want to train with Taylor?" She asked. "Why? She's... demanding. We both are, but Taylor's... well, she's intense. She's really good. People don't know, but she really knows her stuff. Just not my stuff." She made a funny face.

She started nodding at Adrian with a little Mona Lisa smile. "You really want to?"

Cassie's victory dance was kind of humiliating, "Okay fine! So I'm not here just to kiss and make up. NOT THAT I'M KISSING ANYONE!" She shouted, her face getting more and more crimson. "I know, I know... It's just... I kind of need someone to train me who's good and really knows where I'm at right now." the cosplayer confessed "I'm mad at the person who injured me, but she did it fair and square and if I just train normally but put like 7 extra hours a week, I'm gonna mess up again and end up worse and feeling like there's no point to it anymore. Taylor, I think she knows what that kinda feels like and at the very least, she kinda made me mad all the time so if I can stay calm around her, I could keep my cool in the match." Adrian tried to plead with Cassie, "I can't lose twice like that in a row. I got completley chumped last time! The only reason I can actually have any dignity about that match at all was because I didn't tap, but that was what got me injured in the first place! I can't let her beat me again."

Cassie nodded and nodded, until Adrian got to the part about not tapping. Then her face became grave, like she was the school principal about to give Adrian the third degree.

"Adrian..." She began in a voice that was soft and stern. "There's nothing good about refusing to tap. Do you really think you saved your pride by getting hurt?" She shook her head. "Well... that's okay. If it means you're going to come train with us, then... or just Taylor. Whatever you want. So... do you just need her phone number or something?"

"I know, I know! I was just thinking of something I could have taken away from that match so it wasn't completely 100% suck..." Adrian backpedaled over the whole not tapping out business, of course the Jujitsu girl would be all over her because of that thing, it was like lesson one of any grappling: If you're in trouble; tap. "I thought I was closer to the ropes than I was..." she ended up mumbling. "I need you to set up a meeting with the two of us and you playing peacemaker or something. If I just wanted her phone number, I could get it and spend five minutes trying to put up with her yelling 'how did you get this number' and the rest her laughing at me. I need someone she trusts to vouch for me before I go anywhere near her... that's why I came to you for help first."

Cassie raised an eyebrow. "Peacemaker?" She said. "You're... Are you really that scared of Taylor?"

Cassie gave Adrian a concerned look and crossed her toes. It was a look that her mother gave her when she was upset but didn't want any motherly help. Her mother had a way of letting her talk until just the right moment when she would inject some pearl of wisdom that would put everything into perspective. It was a trick Cassie wished she could learn.

She put her glass on the kitchen counter and walked up to Adrian.

"You don't have to be afraid of Taylor. Some people, you should be afraid of... concerned about, but... not me, and not Taylor."

She went back into the kitchen for a pen and a scrap of paper. She scribbled Taylor's phone number on it and then walked over to hand it to Adrian.

"There. Here's your first training session. Overcome your fear of talking to Taylor and give her a call."

"Fine..." Adrian scowled, unable to completely resist that... mom like glare of Cassie's. "But if she laughs in my face, which she totally will, I'm gonna reserve the right to be mad at you." she said, pulling out her phone, taking a deep breath then punching in the number.


"Hello? Is this Talor?"

Cassie nodded and watched Adrian intently, but kept quiet.

"Hello?" Came Taylor's voice from the other end. "Yeah... who's this?"