"13, 14, 15," Noelle Silva muttered to herself as she was currently deep in the heat of a workout. Specifically, she was crushing aa 20 rep set of squats right now, the butt that had smothered out so many other women in the ring stuck out and pulled in her bottoms with every time she went down before coming back up perfectly straight, seemingly without struggle.
"19, 20!" Noelle stepped forward and set her bar back on the rack with ease after finishing her set. "Heh, nobody's gonna be getting out from under you anytime soon," the Spaniard said as she ran a hand up her hip. "Hmm, but am I doing enough? Maybe I should add more weight. But I already just went up an extra 10 pounds for my reps last time. No, that doesn't matter. If it's easy, than I'm not working hard enough. I'll add on another 5. If I can do more, I should. It'd be a waste not to." So Noelle went to grab some extra weight before continuing on with her squats, her focus right now was single-mindedly aimed towards improving and getting stronger. it was Noelle, and the weights.
Teuila was not in a good mood. Definitely so. It was only a week after her rather humbling defeat at the hands of Noelle Silva, and to say she was more motivated than ever was a understatement. So much so that she was hyper fixated on one thing before anything else. Beating Noelle no matter what. It was all she wanted, and it was all she get. Too the point that when she heard Noelle was working out at the LAW gym today she made a point to show up, dressed and ready to fight. Spoiler
Entering the weight room Teuila's eyes would immediately lock onto the form of a squatting Noelle and immediately her gaze narrowed as she approached the silver haired beauty from behind. "Noelle!" Teuila called out, not quite a shout but definitely not quietly either as she marched over. "I want a rematch!" That was definitely closer to a yell as she moved to stand in front of the princess with her hands on her hips and a determined look on her face.
It was supposed to be Noelle and the weights, but it did not seem like that was going to happen once the Spaniard heard a familiar, angry voice coming up behind her. It was Teuila, the girl whom Noelle had utterly squashed in the ring only last week, not allowing her to land even a single attack before leaving the Young Lioness unconscious under the very same butt that she had just been working out.
"Already?" said Noelle with a questioning look in her eyes as she turned to confront her aggressor, "I appreciate the enthusiasm, and I'll give it to you. But not yet." The princess crossed her arms, with a face that did not convey a mind open to being changed. "It's far too soon," Noelle explained. "There's no possible way you could have closed the gap between us enough in one week to make a match between us even remotely interesting beyond the spectacle of one-sided dominance."
A bit of a smile flashed on Noelle's face as she thought of something. Perhaps Teuila's immediate rematch wouldn't be so impossible. "But despite how horribly I treated you in the ring, both verbally and physically, I really am glad that you aren't giving up," said Noelle. "So how about this? I'll give you a handicap. I'm a bit over halfway through my workout, and once I'm done so that all my energy is burnt and my muscles are all tired, we'll finish the day with a sparring match right here in the gym. It would be a true rematch, of course, but you will get to fight me again before you leave this building. What do think, Teuila?" Noelle hoped that Teuila wouldn't miss the princess actually calling her by her name.
Teuila was determined to have this rematch with Noelle, as soon as possible. Whether it was in this gym or if it was in the ring, she was getting this match. Getting Noelle's attention and standing across from her with a determined look she would wait for the girl's response, listening as she was... surprisingly chill with Teuila dropping in on her like this.
Way different from their match making confusion sprout on her face before shaking it off and resuming the more determined look she had when she walked in. Especially as Noelle initially declined her request. "No way. I won't let what happened in our match happen again, I have to beat you." Teuila declared with clenched fists before listening as Noelle kept talking.
Once again she found herself surprised with the... praise Noelle was giving her, hell she even admitted to acting like a bitch and it was really making her flabbergasted. Was this really the same person she was dominated by in their match? Even sitll Noelle would eventually offer a way for her to get her rematch making her nod grimmly. "I don't need the handicap." Teuila growled out first and foremost towards Noelle before continuing. But if it meant I get my payback, fine then." She said with a nod, accepting Noelle's terms!
Noelle was moderately amused at the obvious confusion on Teuila's face when the Spaniard treated her like a person instead of some dirty peasant who should feel blessed to have a conversation or share a ring with her. It made Noelle a bit concerned if perhaps she sent her message a bit too strongly during the two's initial encounter, but what was done had been done.
"Again, I respect the drive and enthusiasm. But you can't be setting your expectations this high, Teuila," Noelle said. "One week just isn't enough time to close the gap between the two of us that was shown in the ring. No matter how hard you've trained, one week just isn't enough. Intensity is important, yes, but you have to respect the need for patience and consistency in your training as well."
Noelle was sure that Teuila would have something to say about what she said, but from there the princess would just carry on with small talk as she shifted her focus back to her workout. Both to get through her training without having a dangerous accident or letting up and losing out on any of her gains on account of being distracted. Once she was done, she'd get Teuila's attention again if she didn't still have it and tell her to come over to the mats.
It may not have been exactly as she wanted it, but Teuila was getting the chance to fight Noelle again. It had only been a week yes, but each day of the past week not recovering was spent training, rewatching their match on loop, doing everything she could to prepare for Noelle properly to take her down. Something that the silver haired girl seemed to disagree with.
Clenching her fists tightly Teuila would suck a breath in as she focused on the princess while she worked out. "We'll see about that. I won't, I can't let what happened in our match stand. Even if I don't beat you today, I'll try again and again, as many times as it takes to beat you." Teuila said with a determined glare on her face, not backing down in the least... Before taking notice of the exact workout Noelle was doing and admittedly blushing a bit as a result and looking away.
"Hmph. Wonder how many time's that will be," Noelle said absentmindedly as the two women walked over to the mats. The Spaniard definitely felt a bit of a whine in her thighs as she lowered herself into her wrestling stance, but she knew that it wouldn't be anything too debilitating for her. Noelle honestly wasn't sure how big of a handicap this would be, guess it was time to find out.
Just as Noelle had said, one week simply was not enough to close the gap between the two. It wasn't as bad as their match, but the Samoan had come at the princess and lost to her 5 before Noelle decided to end the session. Teuila had clearly prepared a couple of tactics to come at Noelle with that put her off balance a couple times in the early rounds, but the rookie's bag quickly ran dry once Noelle adapted. Noelle's muscle fatigue held her back enough to save Teuila from any real flexing at the silver haired wrestler's hands, but Noelle had still dominated the bout.
"I'm going to the showers," Noelle said after completing her second drubbing of Teuila. "I imagine I'll be in there longer than you will be, but if you're willing to wait bit, we can go out for a post-workout meal. I can pay." Noelle didn't know whether or not Teuila would actually consider the offer, but the princess did know that she was going for a nice soak before she'd find out.
Following Noelle out onto the mats she would frown slightly while crossing her arms at Noelle's words. "I heard that you know." Teuila hissed out softly before taking her place on the mat. Facing off with Noelle once more she would put her fists up, fully ready to try and avenge herself and her loss earlier by defeating Noelle!
Well... Emphasis on try. As Noelle had suggested the week long gap wasn't enough to fully contend with her. Granted she had come far closer to her than their original match but this was with an active handicap working in her favor... Which in a way almost made the sting of defeat even worse than it normally would have felt. That Noelle couldn't defeat Noelle even with something like that. It was just... beyond frustrating for her to deal with. Laying on the mat and panting softly in exhaustion with one arm over her face in frustration Teuila would remove it as she heard Noelle talk, offering a post spar lunch.
Was this pity? Was she feeling bad? Or was she being genuinely nice? After all Noelle had been acting far kinder than in the ring... Still a part of her wanted to outright say no to Noelle. Too curse her out and go about planning her next game plan. But... she didn't. Instead she remained silent as she sat up and got to her feet, clearly deep in thought as she followed Noelle to the locker room, stripping and taking a shower on the other side of the showers as Noelle. Clearly not quite ready to talk or even look at Noelle as she contemplated her offer.
Noelle thought back on her spar with Teuila as she took some much needed R&R in a hot bath. Mentally analyzing the things Teuila did; her techniques, her instincts, her errors. It painted the picture of someone who had potential. There was a quality wrestler within the woman that was currently getting squashed by main roster opposition. Noelle felt confident Teuila would bring that talent to the surface, with or without her help, but the Spaniard figured she'd nudge her along a bit, if the rookie was willing.
Noelle exited the bath, not really knowing whether or not she should expect Teuila to be there. She'd hang around for a bit, simultaneously scanning the area for the Samoan and waiting to see if Teuila would call out to her. She'd give it about a minute or two. If Teuila was intending to take up the Spaniard on her offer, that should be more than enough time for one of them to see the other.
Teuila sighed deeply as she finished drying off from her shower and began to dress, albeit extremely distracted as she did so. So much was going through her mind right now. The spar, the first match with Noelle, her learning in the Shadow Fortress and Young Lioness program as a whole. Was it worth it? Was she good at it? Did she deserve to graduate after all? Honestly she wasn't sure.. but there was someone that might be willing to help her out. At least if the attitude that had been on display so far was really genuine.
Finishing getting dressed and taking a deep breath Teuila would exit the bathroom and see Noelle not too far away from her. Swallowing a lump in her throat that may as well have been her pride she would raise her hand as she approached. "Hey Noelle?" Teuila called out with a awkward wave before dropping her hand and walking to stand in front of the princess. "If the offer is still open.. I'd like to go to lunch with you." Teuila said with a nod to the silver haired girl though it was clear she was a bit bashful still.
