New Kid In The Gym

Taylor closed her eyes and nodded to Mercy. They were totally doing it.

"She's a little bigger..." Taylor said. There was no way she looked like that! Not that it was a bad thing, but Taylor liked her body.

She laughed out loud, and held onto the treadmill to make sure she wouldn't lose her balance. "Yeah, dude. Cecelia got to pick three times, and pulled "Queen" every time," she grinned, then looked over at Alaina. "And yeah, one of the other Amazons has got at least a hundred pounds on you, no joke. You'd be like... the Lil Amazon."

She bumped up her pace a little more. She couldn't help it. "But seriously, you only started training a year ago? That's crazy. Just be careful... sometimes AFW likes to book mismatches," she warned. "Man, I was gonna kinda reem you out over the shit you were doing to the bag over there, but I guess I'd have to be a little more gentle. I didn't know you were that new-"

A sudden sharp pain in her hip stopped her short. She quickly hid her grimace, and turned the pace back down while she thumped at her right hip with the flat of her fist. She couldn't fucking stand being injured, but no way was she going to let on to Mercy and some rookie that she was hurt.

Alaina felt slightly dejected. She was always proud of the shape she was in, and while she knew there were a lot of bigger, stronger women she took pride in the work she had done. She did her best to hide it, but lying was never something she was good at even if it was as simple as hiding a reaction.

Alaina began looking over the paperwork and started signing off on the multitude of forms. "Heh... yeah I figured I wasn't the first person to have it, but it was an old nickname so its what I went with. Besides, sometimes there is more to a woman than how she looks." Alaina looked back over at Taylor on the treadmill and thought for a second how to best respond to her reaction to Alaina's inexperience. "Its all right Taylor, I know I have a ton to learn. Besides, the more I can figure out in here the better off I'll be. I have a lot to prove and I'll show you all that I'm not just another bimbo jobber or cannon fodder."

Alaina was nearly finished with all Mercy's forms when she briefly stopped and looked up. "So who is my first match with and when is it?"

Alaina eagerly awaited a response. Mercy struck her as a bit snide, but she imagined this was how Mercy treated all the new people. Taylor seemed like an honest, forthcoming vet with a good sense for the business. She would take note of Taylors initial body language and facial expression upon hearing who it was she was having a match with. Of course, she would also heed any words of wisdom as well....

Mercy covered her mouth as Alaina spoke. "Not all the bimbos are jobbers." She muttered and smiled at herself. She then cleared her throat and looked back to Alaina. "Uhhh... no one until you finish that paperwork." She said and then tilted her head. "Some other rookie though, I guess. Lukretia doesn't seem to have an interest so it'll just be whatever. There's a girl that needs a match. I think her name is just letters or something." Mercy said and shrugged. "If you need to know, then I can tell you once I get back to my office. I'll send a memo or something."

"All right, here's your forms. I added my email and cell phone number so its easier to get in touch once you know when I'm fighting alphabet, or whatever her name happens to be." Alaina had a hopeful smile on her face because she couldn't wait for the match. The sooner the match was the better as far as Alaina was concerned. She in fact hoped that once Mercy left she would get a call or text an hour later saying it was all set for tonight.

Alaina continued on the treadmill and turned her attention back to Taylor. "Hey Taylor, would you be up for some sparring in the ring over there?" She figured getting as much hands on practice as she could would be beneficial. "Please say yes..." Alaina thought to herself as she looked over at Taylor.

Taylor nodded. "Yeah, definitely. How about you, Mercy? You too?" Taylor grinned at the pink-haired paralegal. Mercy was probably the last person in the world you'd ever find lifting a weight, let alone rolling around and hitting someone.

She stopped her treadmill and hopped off, and began stretching. She pulled each knee up to her chest and stretched to each side, folded her upper body down against her knees, twisted side to side and spent some time in the runner's stretch for her hips. She'd probably be fine if she just took an extra long time to stretch out. She'd feel like such a tool if she embarrassed herself in front of the rookie.

Once she was done, she rolled into the ring and pulled down on the top rope to stretch out her shoulders. "So you only started training a year ago?" She asked. "Or did you debut a year ago? And how'd you end up at Friction? Like, were you a fan first or whatever?"

Mercy took the clipboard back and nodded. She'd take care of it after she did her rounds. it might be a while before she got back to Alaina. Until Taylor spoke up. Mercy's eyes widened a bit. She blushed and then turned her head sheepishly away. "A-Actually..." She said. Mercy had started carrying around a gym bag with her. She'd even sneaked in the gym and done a little bit of "training. She would need it soon enough and she had been wanting to ask Taylor but she had hesitated.

"If you don't mind!" She said, suddenly giddy. "I'll go punch this stuff into a computer, change and come back! I wouldn't mind it one bit, eheh!" She said, laughing nervously. She turned her head and looked at Alaina. "Just hold her off until I get back. Hopefully you can manage that!" She said slyly. "I'll have your opponent's name when I return!"

Mercy waved as best as she could with her piles of folders and dashed off. Her heart was racing at the thought and that even surprised her!

"I grew up watching wrestling but was something of a closet fan since it wasn't 'cool' for girls to be into it back in So-Cal. But yeah, a year ago after I saw a small show I started training." Alaina answered as she hopped up onto the ringside and climbed between the ropes. Alaina set her leg up on the top rope and began to stretch her legs first. "I know you guys think I'm in for a nasty reality check, and maybe you are right but I'm more excited about the challenge than anything. I mean, whats the point of being timid and pessimistic? You just end up defeating yourself before your opponent has to lift a finger."

Alaina finished stretching her legs and moved onto her arms, moving them across her chest. "Charlie and I had been trying to work into a big promotion and we've been following AFW a bit. We sent a tape and they must have seen something in us or they wouldn't have flown us over. When Charlie got hurt I initially spent a lot of time helping with his rehab." Alaina sighed a little before continuing, albeit very quietly so only Taylor could hear. "He was a little... depressed at first."

Alaina did perk up quite a bit once she heard Mercy saying she'd have her opponents name upon her return. Alaina bounced up and down in place and smiled as she answered to Mercy, who was already halfway to the door. "Sounds great Mercy! I'll do my best because I really want to save some for you! See you when you get back!"

"I think she meant me," Taylor said. "Mercy's not a fighter or anything. I think she just does cardio..."

She began to bounce on the balls of her feet and moved effortlessly around the ring, using her footwork to maneuver around an imaginary opponent. She stayed relaxed and took it easy while she slowly eased into things. She always felt fine when she was moving, but lately she'd been paying for it afterward.

"But yeah, that really sucks. Injuries are really hard, and getting hurt not even in the ring... that sucks," Taylor sympathized, and did a couple quick tuck jumps. "I've had a few concussions and stuff... but two bad ones. I had three broken ribs and took a beating after that, and it really fucked me up. Then I broke my hand on Akashi's face, but that''s kind of a long story. But a broken hand isn't so bad, especially because after that I just retired and got married."

She felt alright. Down to business. "So like, I saw you at the bag, and I just say real quick..." She stepped up to Alaina and pulled one foot back into a light, relaxed stance. "What you were doing, it was knee... right hand... dropkick." She put up the knee and then extended her right arm, but held back the dropkick. "You've got to watch your distance, man. Like, if I'm here for the first two..." She put out the knee and the punch again, and then coiled one leg as if to kick out, and indicated the distance to Alaina with her hand. "You'll end up jamming me on the dropkick. All the power doesn't kick in until out here." She took a step back.

"So that's fine if you've got the dude moving back, but you need to train it like that. And think about how you're using that dropkick, like, don't fuck around with those. Like, if you missed one on me, I'd have a lot of time while you're getting up to fuck up your day. When you're in the gym, you've got to plan all that shit out and drill it so that you don't have to think about anything in the ring. Anyway, sorry, that's all. Training people is kind of a hobby, I guess. Wanna just try some light sparring or something?"

Alaina nodded as Taylor talked. She kept eye contact throughout, she wanted to convey that she was paying total attention to what Taylor said. She also appreciated it. As far as she knew it was rare for a veteran to take time out like this for a no-name rookie like her.

"Thanks and of course! I'm the newbie who has to earn her dues, so I will let you take the lead and I'll do my best to keep up! Alaina moved forward towards Taylor, holding her hands up. "Do you want to break things down separately like strikes, then holds then grappling or just do a freestyle spar at three quarter speed, half speed or whatever?"

Taylor shrugged. "Just show me what you do, man."

She put her hands up and met Alaina in the middle of the ring, stepping slowly until she was in range. Then, with sudden and shocking speed, she smacked Alaina's arm inward and ducked around that side to come up behind her, her arms tightly clasped around her waist. She kept her weight low and her cheek pressed against the middle of the bigger girl's back, and relaxed once she was there. She didn't need to try to muscle the girl around or anything.

"Really, I guess I'm always most interested in how people move," she said. "If you can't move, you can't touch me. Just ask Iron Maiden."